Majority Press Releases
Brown Statement on Crapo Housing Finance Reform Outline
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement on Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo’s housing finance outline. “I will fight to ensure that any efforts to reform the housing market start by addressing the affordability crisis that is hurting too many renters and homeowners across this country. Too often Congress and the White House have put Wall Street ahead… Continue Reading
January 30, 2019
Brown Calls on Fed to Protect Taxpayers by Increasing Big Bank Capital
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - is calling on the Federal Reserve Board Governors to use all of its prudential authorities, including the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) for the biggest banks, to strengthen the resiliency of the financial system and protect working families from the next economic downturn. “These systemic vulnerabilities are becoming more apparent. At a time wh… Continue Reading
January 25, 2019
Waters and Brown Call on Otting to Detail His Plans for FHFA
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency, following President Trump’s appointment of Otting to serve as Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Chairwoman Waters and Ranking Member Brown emphasized the Government Sponsor… Continue Reading
January 18, 2019
Brown Slams CFPB For Failing To Protect Servicemembers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) failure to monitor financial services institutions for violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA). “The CFPB is neglecting its duty to protect the women and men who serve and protect our country. The CFPB has broad authorities - Congress does not need to take a… Continue Reading
January 16, 2019
Brown Statement On Resolution Of Disapproval Of Treasury's Decision To Delist Russian Firms From Sanctions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement on his vote to disapprove the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision in December to terminate sanctions for three Russian companies connected to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska: EN+ Group Plc, JSC EuroSibEnergo, and United Co. Rusal Plc. “President Trump has consistently resisted applying tough Congressionally-mand… Continue Reading
December 19, 2018
Schumer, Brown, Menendez Statement On Treasury Decision to Delist Russian Firms From Sanctions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations - released the following statement on the Treasury Department’s intent to remove three large Russian companies, EN+ Group Plc, JSC EuroSibEnergo (“ESE”), and United Co. Rusal Plc (Rusal) from U.S. sanctions lists. The… Continue Reading
December 11, 2018
Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Hearing on Oversight of the SEC
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled ‘Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’. Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:Thank you Chairman Crapo, and welcome to Chair Clayton.As I believe this will be the last Banking Committee hearing for this Congress, I would like to express my thanks… Continue Reading
December 6, 2018
Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Hearing on Proxy Process and Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing entitled 'Proxy Process and Rules: Examining Current Practices and Potential Changes'. Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Chairman Crapo, and welcome to our witnesses. All too often, we see corporate boards and executives focus on short-term profits, instead of lo… Continue Reading
December 6, 2018
Brown and Rubio Announce Legislation to Protect Small Businesses from Predatory Lenders
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation to protect small businesses by codifying the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) 1985 ban on confessions of judgement in consumer loan contracts and extending the ban to include small business borrowers. Confessions of judgment require a borrower to give up her rights in court before obtaining a loan, an… Continue Reading
November 29, 2018
Brown Floor Speech Opposing Kathy Kraninger's Nomination For CFPB Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following floor speech opposing Kathy Kraninger's nomination for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Sen. Brown warns that Kraninger will continue to be a rubber stamp for this Administration's anti-consumer agenda. Sen. Brown led Senate Democrats to unanimously oppose moving forward with nominating Kraninger to the CFPB. … Continue Reading
November 29, 2018
Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Hearing On Combating Money Laundering and Other Illicit Finance
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing entitled 'Combating Money Laundering and Other Illicit Finance: Regulator and Law Enforcement Perspectives on Reform'. Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling this hearing. Even with all of the tough, comprehensive protections we've put in plac… Continue Reading
November 27, 2018
Brown Releases Report on Mick Mulvaney's Year of Attacks on Servicemembers, Students, and Working Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released 'Pushing the Envelope: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Under the Trump Administration' report to Congress. The report details how Mr. Mulvaney has undermined the Bureau's mission to enforce consumer protections in order to push the financial industry's wish list. The CFPB was a great success during its first six years. The Bureau obtained alm… Continue Reading
November 1, 2018
Brown Statement on the Federal Reserve's Proposal to Weaken Rules for Large U.S. Banks
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement on the Federal Reserve's proposal to weaken systemic risk protections for banks with up to $700 billion in assets. "This Administration and Congress continue to fail hardworking Americans by weakening protections that guard taxpayers from big bank risk," said Brown. "What's worse, the Fed said that more roll backs for foreign … Continue Reading
October 17, 2018
Brown Statement On FSOC's De-Designation of Prudential
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement on the Financial Stability Oversight Council's (FSOC) decision to rescind designation of Prudential Financial as a systemically important financial institution. "I'm deeply disappointed, but not surprised, by the decision of the FSOC under Secretary Mnuchin's leadership to abandon the Council's mission to protect taxpayers from… Continue Reading
October 12, 2018
Crapo, Brown Applaud Passage of Hezbollah Sanctions Bill
WASHINGTON- The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Hezbollah InternationalFinancing Prevention Amendments Act (S. 1595), backed by Senate Banking Committee ChairmanMike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ranking MemberSherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Jeanne Shaheen(D-New Hampshire), and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-California)and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-New York). The bill now heads to thePresident to be signed into law. AsChairman and Ranking Member of… Continue Reading
October 11, 2018
Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Hearing on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing entitled 'Exploring the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Ecosystem'. Thank you, Chairman Crapo, for holding this hearing. And thank you to Mr. Van Valkenburgh and Dr. Roubini for your testimony. Today's hearing happens to fall just shy of the tenth anniversary of bitcoin and the blockchain being introd… Continue Reading
October 4, 2018
Banking Committee Democrats Call for Hearing to Hold Wells Fargo Accountable For Consumer Abuses
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - along with his Democratic colleagues are calling on the Senate Banking Committee to hold a hearing with Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan and Chair of the Board of Directors Elizabeth Duke, in the wake of the bank's rampant consumer abuses revealed over the last year. More than a dozen widespread and persistent failures by the bank have come to light since Tim Sloan la… Continue Reading
October 3, 2018
Senate Democrats Demand Mick Mulvaney Explain Vetting Process of CFPB Political Appointees after Racist and Sexist Blog Post Surfaces
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - along with 12 Senate Democrats is demanding CFPB leadership explain how Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Policy Director Eric Blankenstein was chosen to oversee supervision, enforcement, and fair lending issues given his past racist writings. Last week, the Washington Post uncovered a 2004 blog where Blankenstein, under an alias, posted bigoted writings on… Continue Reading
October 2, 2018
Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Hearing on Implementation of the Dodd-Frank Rollback Bill, S.2155
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing entitled 'Implementation of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act' Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: This hearing was originally scheduled for September 13-the same week ten years ago that Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, paving the way fo… Continue Reading
October 1, 2018
Brown Floor Speech: Author of Racist Blog Posts Cannot be Entrusted with Enforcing Anti-Discrimination Laws
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following floor speech calling for the firing of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) political appointee Eric Blankenstein after the Washington Post uncovered a past blog where Blankenstein has posted bigoted writings on race, hate crimes and women. In his current role as Policy Director at CFPB, Blankenstein is charged with enforcing cons… Continue Reading
