yesterday the senate advanced the nomination of joseph otting to serve as comptroller of the currency. mr. otting's experience as a leader at various financial agencies has helped prepare him to serve in this new role. i look forward to voting to confirming him later today. next the senate will consider two well-qualified nominees to serve on the federal district courts, donald coggins and dabney friedrich is the experience and temperament to excel as judges. both of these individuals have stellar legal credentials. their careers demonstrate a serious commitment to the law. and by confirming them both the senate will continue to ensure that the federal judiciary fulfills its particular role in our constitutional system. i'd like to thank chairman grassley for his leadership of the senate judiciary committee which reported both of these nominees on a voice vote. i look forward to advancing their nominations very soon.

nomination put forward for the person who will permanently be proposed to head up the o.c.c., joseph otting. and in mr. otting, we have another example of somebody whose entire career has been spent working with banks and other major financial institutions to try to evade important consumer protections and taxpayer protections. in fact, mr. otting and his bank were able to profit very handsomely from the mortgage crisis. the c.e.o. of one west during part of that crisis was the person who's now secretary of the treasury, steve mnuchin. he was the head of one west during the foreclosure crisis. during that time, one west had what many have called a foreclosure machine in place. and mr. otting, who is going to be in the, the head of the o.c.c. and who we would hope would be more independent as required by the charter of the o.c.c., he was there working for the secretary treasury, steve mnuchin, at one west. and mr. otting was there working at one west when the bank foreclosed on nearly 40,000 americans. and one west received more than $1 billion in taxpayer money to cover one west's losses. those are ex

mr. president. today i rise to speak in opposition to the nomination of joseph otting to be come croarl of the curntion -- comptroller of the currency. i appreciate his interest to enter public service. in a -- that said he is not the person we need in this very important financial watchdog role. we have learned lessons from the attitude and the work of the person in this office, and i'm sure he's not the right person here. we' we have made a lot of progress in the last seven years since we passed wall street reform. the last thing we need is someone leading the office of the controller of the currency who works to eliminate or weaken safeguards instead of looking out for workers and borrowers and the stability of our financial system. the financial watchdogs, including the previous controller thomas curry, took the right steps, took significant steps to right the wrongs that led to the 2008 financial crisis. it's important that we not have this collective amnesia that seems to permeate this body about what happened to this country ten years ago. working together, controller curry and other financial w

mr. joseph otting for the comptroller of the currency. the o.c.c.'s mission is to ensure that the financial institutions that it oversees operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair access to financial services, treat customers fairly, and comply with the applicable laws and regulations. the o.c.c. is responsible for overseeing the supervision of all national banks and federal savings associations, as well as federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. the o.c.c. also plays an important role in identifying and responding to emerging threats in our financial system mr. otosomething exceptionally equal tied to lead the o.c.c. as its comp troll her. his unique experience and understanding of the banking sector has been shaped by over three decades of firsthand industry experience. mr. otting has held positions at large regional and community financial institutions, including key leadership positions. in fact, he has touched virtually every segment of the industry, working in consumer services, business services, human resources, compliance, aud

joseph otting as comptroller of the currency. this position is crucial to protecting our national backing system and mr. otting has the experience necessary to excel. then the senate will continue our efforts to see our nation's judiciary fulfills its proper role by appointing two more talented nominees to serve as federal district court judges. president trump continued to nominate individuals who will interpret the laws as actually written, not as they wish it were. donald coggins has nominated to serve as district court judge in south carolina. he's been in private practice in south carolina for over three decades. the senate judiciary committee reported his nomination by a voice vote. he is a talented nominee and i look forward to confirming him soon. then the senate will consider the nomination of dabney friedrich to serve as district court judge for the district of columbia. ms. friedrich has a wealth of experience having been in private practice, served as an assistant u.s. attorney in both the eastern district of virginia and the southern district of california and has been confirmed twice by th