The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) today applauded the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to become Vice-Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve and urged the US Senate to swiftly confirm her.
In a letter to the Senate Banking Committee, NCRC and 29 member groups urged confirmation of Bloom Raskin, Dr. Lisa Cook and Dr. Phillip Jefferson as Federal Reserve Board governors. The committee is scheduled to consider all three nominations in a hearing Thursday, Feb. 3.
“Sarah Bloom Raskin has worked closely with community groups throughout her career to strengthen consumer protections and address economic inequality. Her combination of monetary policy expertise and locally rooted hands-in-the-dirt experience will make her an outstanding Vice Chair,” NCRC President and CEO Jesse Van Tol said.
“We applaud President Biden for identifying the right person to lead the Federal Reserve’s regulatory work at this critical moment. As the Fed reviews potential modernizations to the Community Reinvestment Act, evidence is mounting that our current efforts toward economic equity are falling short for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who our members serve,” Van Tol said. “Along with nominees Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson, Sarah Bloom Raskin will keep the Fed attuned to the needs of working families during a crucial time for our nation.
“Dr. Cook’s nomination is also historic and essential: She will be the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve board, adding both economic expertise and a perspective that should have been represented on the board long ago,” Van Tol said. “I’ve also seen some of the plainly racist opposition to her nomination, so it’s worth reminding everyone that she’s an eminently qualified economist and was recently named a member of the board of directors to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
“Now the Senate gets a chance to show it shares the White House’s urgency on behalf of everyday people by swiftly approving these highly qualified nominees,” Van Tol said. “If confirmed, Bloom Raskin and Cook will ensure that the Federal Reserve uses its supervisory powers to foster fair lending and strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act.”
Cook is a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, a PhD in economics from Berkeley, and a veteran of both the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Harvard University’s faculty.
Bloom Raskin previously served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and as United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, among other positions. When confirmed as Deputy Secretary in 2014, she became the highest-ranking woman in the history of the Treasury Department.
In her 2013 keynote address at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s annual conference, Bloom Raskin shared her goals for improving the prospects of working families. Her remarks illustrated her keen understanding of the needs of the underserved.
“Today, about one-quarter of all workers are considered ‘low-wage,’” she said in the keynote. “They are sanitation workers, office receptionists, and nursing assistants; they are single mothers of three who worry: How will I be able to send my children to college? What if my landlord raises the rent this year? Tens of millions of Americans are the people who ask themselves these questions every day.
“In light of these challenges,” she concluded, “I ask questions that have been asked before: What can economic policy do to reduce unemployment, economic marginalization, and the financial vulnerability of millions of lower-income working Americans? There is no simple cure to these conditions, but government policymakers need to focus seriously on the problems, not simply because of notions of fairness and justice, but because the economy’s ability to produce a stable quality of living for millions of people is at stake.”
More: Read the NCRC letter to the Senate Banking Committee
The following NCRC member organizations co-signed the letter:
Affordable Homeownership Foundation, Inc
Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation
California Coalition for Rural Housing
California Reinvestment Coalition
Coalition for Non Profit Housing and Economic Development
Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida
Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc.
Devotion USA, Inc.
EAH Housing
Empowercom
Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama
Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc.
Housing Action Illinois
JOVIS
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council
National Housing Resource Center
Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund
New Jersey Citizen Action
Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance
Peoples Opportunity Fund
Piedmont Business Capital
Pima County Community Land Trust
River Cities Development Services
South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation
Southern Dallas Progress Community Development Corporation
St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. dba Neighborhood Home Solutions
