STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S APPOINTMENT OF RICHARD CORDRAY

STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S APPOINTMENT OF RICHARD CORDRAY AS THE FIRST DIRECTOR OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 4, 2012) – Governor Martin O’Malley today issued the following statement on President Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

“I commend President Obama for appointing Richard Cordray as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

President Obama has a sworn duty to run our government and protect consumers. This work is important and needed by every family in every state. Protecting consumers in the marketplace is serious business that cannot wait for common sense to break through silly Tea Party games of this blatantly obstructionist Republican Congress."

“Senators, attorneys general, mayors, and business leaders from both sides of the aisle have attested to the fact that former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray is impeccably qualified and fair minded. We trust that he will apply our country’s consumer financial protection laws forcefully yet judiciously.

“The CFPB now possesses the authority to ensure that payday lenders, debt collectors, and others no longer have free rein to deplete the financial health of our communities. With Richard Cordray’s appointment, our states finally have a strong partner at the federal level to combat predatory and discriminatory lending.

“Millions of struggling American citizens need consumer markets that are fair and transparent. With President Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray, we finally have an agency devoted to cleaning up the practices that caused the financial crisis.”