Last year, Congress passed Wall Street reform in response to the financial meltdown of 2008. My focus during that debate was to make it far easier for American families to manage their financial affairs without worrying about the tricks and traps that banks may have hidden in the fine print of contracts.

That’s why I introduced a bill with the help of Professor Elizabeth Warren from Harvard to create an independent financial watchdog whose sole purpose would be to look out for the needs of American families trying to use financial services wisely.

That idea ultimately became the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is being established now and will become an independent regulator this July.