Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) delivered a speech on the Senate floor urging the swift confirmation of five of President Biden’s nominees to serve on the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors. During his speech, Senator Coons called upon his Republican colleagues to stop blocking these qualified nominees to the Board, all of whom have been waiting to be confirmed for over a month and a half. The five nominees are Lisa Cook, Sarah Bloom Raskin, Philip Jefferson, Jerome Powell, and Lael Brainard.
On Lisa Cook, nominee to Federal Reserve Board, Senator Coons said, “Lisa, from her time growing up in a small, rural town in Georgia, going on to earn advanced degrees from our nation’s finest institutions, and now as a teacher at one of our great, public universities, she has built world-class expertise in economics, innovation, and banking. She understands not just abstract economic theory but how those theories impact Americans and their families in all walks of life.”
On Sarah Bloom Raskin, nominee to Federal Reserve Board, Senator Coons said, “Sarah Bloom Raskin, who I know from college, has been nominated to serve as vice chair for supervision and has demonstrated through a long career in public service, at both the state and federal level, to be a highly competent regulator who advanced a financial system that would work for all Americans.”
On Philip Jefferson, nominee to Federal Reserve Board, Senator Coons said, “Philip Jefferson, nominated to serve as a board governor, has deep expertise in how monetary policy impacts employment and economic growth and an important understanding of inequality and poverty in America today.”
On Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard, nominees to become Federal Reserve Chair and Vice Chair respectively, Senator Coons said, “The Fed is at its strongest with a full board of governors, and President Biden has nominated five of the finest economic and legal minds our country has to fill its vacancies: Jerome Powell to serve as chair, and Lael Brainard to serve as vice chair – both folks who have ably guided our economy in the years they have served at the Fed.”
Full audio and video available here. A transcript is provided below.
Sen. Coons: Since President Biden took office, we’ve seen historic job growth and a dynamic economy. Wages are rising, and they’re rising fastest for working-class Americans. But despite this significant economic progress, today, too many American families are still facing pressing, economic challenges. A global pandemic now entering its third year, ongoing disruptions to international supply chains that result in rising prices, and now the economic shocks caused by Putin’s aggression, his invasion of Ukraine and the response by the West, a united effort to impose sanctions on Russia, which will also have consequences for the global economy.
The Federal Reserve exists, in part, to address issues just like these. The Fed doesn’t just set interest rates and control our money supply. It oversees banks, ensures efficient and reliable payments, and promotes consumer protection and community development. When our economy is facing such foundational challenges like the ones we’re up against right now, it is crucial our institutions are at full strength. The Fed is at its strongest with a full board of governors, and President Biden has nominated five of the finest economic and legal minds our country has to fill its vacancies: Jerome Powell to serve as chair, and Lael Brainard to serve as vice chair – both folks who have ably guided our economy in the years they have served at the Fed.
Sarah Bloom Raskin, who I know from college, has been nominated to serve as vice chair for supervision and has demonstrated through a long career in public service, at both the state and federal level, to be a highly competent regulator who advanced a financial system that would work for all Americans. Philip Jefferson, nominated to serve as a board governor, has deep expertise in how monetary policy impacts employment and economic growth and an important understanding of inequality and poverty in America today.
Last, my good friend Lisa Cook, whom I have known for decades. We knew each other as young Truman Scholars, folks who were volunteering a week of our time to help mentor and encourage younger Truman Scholars, a federally funded memorial to President Harry Truman. I’ve known her since the stage in her life where neither one of us might have guessed that someday I would be on this floor speaking as a senator, and I would be speaking in support of her nomination to the Federal Reserve. She would bring a valuable new perspective to the Fed Board. Lisa, from her time growing up in a small, rural town in Georgia, going on to earn advanced degrees from our nation’s finest institutions, and now as a teacher at one of our great, public universities, she has built world-class expertise in economics, innovation, and banking.
She understands not just abstract economic theory but how those theories impact Americans and their families in all walks of life. Lisa served under President Obama at the White House Council of Economic Advisors where she dealt with financial crises both here in the United States and abroad, and she has studied the macroeconomics of foreign markets in Europe and in Africa, including the way central banks have dealt with high inflation, one of the issues right before us. She has expertise in an emerging area of the economy that’s increasingly important for our central bank regulators to understand, digital currencies, and financial technology. She has supported sensible regulation of cryptocurrencies that enables innovation and allows more people to access secure and low-cost financial services.
Her data-driven approach will help the Fed navigate the continued economic recovery, and her focus on financial inclusion will be a critical perspective on the Fed Board that will help ensure all Americans can see the benefit of continued economic growth and job gains.
Madam President, overall, these are five nominees to the Fed Board with sterling credentials and strong character, all of them on their merits deserve the seats to which they have been nominated. I respect the desire on the part of my Republican colleagues to conduct a full evaluation of these nominees, and all five of them have responded repeatedly, fully, and with transparency to the hundreds of questions that have been pressed to them. They have answered all the questions put to them. The time has come to advance and confirm these nominees, and I call upon my Republican colleagues to allow a vote to proceed. To block a vote in the Banking Committee of this Senate by simply denying a quorum is no way for this allegedly ‘greatest deliberative body in the world’ to conduct itself. If we are, in fact, facing the crisis of inflation and rising prices, the Federal Reserve Board must have its full membership. So, my colleagues, please stop blocking these capable and qualified nominees and allow them to proceed.
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