Financial Reform Bill Passes House

In a 237 to 192 vote Wednesday night, the House declared themselves in favor of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act--more commonly known as the Financial Reform Bill.
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Having passed the House, the bill must now be approved by the Senate--a vote which is not expected until later this month following the news that the Senate canceled plans to vote on it this week after Sen. Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts) said that he was not ready to pledge his support. If it succeeds in the Senate, this legislation aims to curb the practices that helped lead to a national mortgage crisis.

In response to the bill passing the House, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) reiterated that “the failures that led to this crisis require bold action. We must restore responsibility and accountability in our financial system to give Americans confidence that there is a system in place that works for and protects them.”

Some highlights of the legislation include a new independent watchdog agency housed at the federal reserve to help monitor the financial markets, the end of ‘too big to fail’ bailouts, additional investor protections, new guidelines overseeing executive compensation and corporate governance, and the creation of a council to oversee an advance warning system to help monitor financial risk.

In the House, the main criticism of passing the bill came from Republicans concerned that it fell short of promoting economic soundness where job growth is concerned. During the debate, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) was outspoken on this point, saying, “At a time when unemployment is hovering near 10 percent, this bill does nothing to create the jobs our economy desperately needs. Instead, it makes creditâ€"especially small-business creditâ€"less available and more expensive by creating a new federal loan czar with the power to ban and ration consumer credit products.”

After yesterday’s vote, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner applauded the work of the House to get this measure approved and on behalf of the Treasury stated, “We congratulate the House of Representatives on passing historic financial reform and commend Chairman Frank and chairman Peterson for their leadership throughout this process. This is a strong bill. It will provide essential protections for consumers and investors and help make sure the financial system meets the credit needs of Main Street America. With action by the Senate, we will be able to turn our attention to putting these protections in place.”

To learn more about the history of the financial reform legislation, ""click here."":http://dsnews.comarticles/congress-reaches-consensus-on-financial-reform-legislation-2010-06-25