June 08, 2022

Brown Advances Fed and SEC Nominees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, held an executive session to vote on the nominations of: The Honorable Michael S. Barr for Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Federal Reserve, and Mr. Jaime E. Lizárraga and Mr. Mark T. Uyeda to be members of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Honorable Michael S. Barr was advanced by a vote of 17-7. Mr. Jaime Lizarraga and Mr. Mark Uyeda were advanced on a voice vote.  

Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:

The Committee meets in Executive Session today to consider the nominations of three Presidential nominees: 

The Honorable Michael Barr to be a Member and Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Mr. Jaime Lizárraga to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Mr. Mark Uyeda to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

I will keep my remarks brief today.

I unfortunately was not able to be there for the nominations hearing for these three nominees.

I would be remiss not to thank Senators Tester and Smith, as well as Ranking Member Toomey, for covering in my absence.

After Wall Street greed crashed our economy, Congress created the Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision position.

The job of the Vice Chair for Supervision is to stay ahead of emerging and evolving risks to our financial system – whether it’s cyber attacks or climate change or crypto. You don’t have to look any further than crypto’s staggering nose dive last month to see how volatile it is.

We need a Vice Chair for Supervision who will ensure banks have the capital to weather the next financial storm, whatever the risk or cause. Main Street should never have to bailout Wall Street again.

Michael Barr is an exceptional nominee who has the talent and experience to protect our economy from those risks.

And, as he told Senator Tester at the hearing and wrote to me in response to written questions, he understands the importance of Fed independence and is committed to upholding that independence.

He currently serves as the dean for public policy and a professor of law at the University of Michigan. He previously served at the Departments of Treasury and State, as well as the White House.

We need to get Mr. Barr on the job immediately. I will be supporting his nomination today.

Mr. Lizárraga and Mr. Uyeda have been nominated by the President to be Commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Both nominees have the demonstrated experience needed to take on these critical roles.

Mr. Lizárraga has worked on financial services policy in Congress for decades and is committed to helping the SEC protect consumers at this pivotal time. 

As he noted in his written testimony, Mr. Lizárraga will “approach the SEC’s vital mission through the eyes of working families.” 

Mr. Lizárraga has received broad support. This includes from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to former SEC Commissioners Robert Jackson and Luis Aguilar, and others. 

I ask these letters be entered into the record.

Mr. Uyeda is currently detailed to Ranking Member Toomey’s staff from the SEC, where he has served since 2006. He previously served as Counsel to Commissioners Paul Atkins and Mark Piwowar, as well as Senior Adviser to Chair Jay Clayton. 

I will be supporting both Mr. Lizárraga and Mr. Mark Uyeda’s nominations.

Finally, to close, I want to say that the two SEC nominees we will be voting on today are another clear example of this President’s dedication to diversity, and to making sure our federal agencies have Senate-confirmed officials that represent all of America – because we know when they do, government works better.

And for this President, it’s not just words, but action.

Real action.

Look no further than our Committee and the list of qualified nominees nominated by this president and confirmed by the Senate: Marcia Fudge, Nuria Fernandez, Adrianne Todman, Brian Nelson, Reta Jo Lewis, Rohit Chopra, Lisa Cook, Philip Jefferson, Alanna McCargo, Elizabeth Bhargava , Arun Venkataraman, and so many more.

And with two more nominees before us today that we will be voting on: Jaime Lizárraga and Mark Uyeda.

When the people who serve reflect our big, diverse, vibrant country – and all the various backgrounds of the people who make it work – we get better results for Americans.

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