Brown remains uncommitted after fix to bank bill
By JIM KUHNHENN (AP)
WASHINGTON — Despite lawmakers' last-minute change to win his vote, Republican Sen. Scott Brown said Wednesday he needs more time to study a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations before committing his vote.
His stance leaves Democrats short, for now, of the 60 votes they need to overcome procedural hurdles to the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will have to wait until after the weeklong July 4 congressional break to take up the bill.
The House was expected to vote on a final, combined House-Senate bill, late Wednesday afternoon.
Congressional Democrats have been inching closer to passage of a major rewrite of financial industry regulations, making fixes as they go in hopes of securing the votes of straying Republicans.
On Tuesday, House and Senate negotiators reconvened to remove a $19 billion fee on large banks and hedge funds after Brown threatened to vote against the bill. Brown, of Massachusetts, supported a Senate version of the bill last month but said he objected to the fee, inserted by negotiators last week.
In a statement Wednesday, Brown said he appreciated the removal of the fee, but said he would review the bill over next week's recess.
"I remain committed to putting in place safeguards to prevent another financial meltdown, ensure that consumers are protected, and that this bill is paid for without new taxes," he said.
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By Alexander Bolton (The Hill)
Senate Democratic leaders as expected on Wednesday postponed a final vote on Wall Street reform. The Wall Street reform conference report will not pass until Congress returns from the July 4 recess during the week of July 12, Democratic leaders said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Wednesday that Senate procedures would not allow him to bring the bill to the floor on Thursday.
Members of the Senate will be away from Washington on Friday to attend the funeral of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) in Charleston. “I can’t because I can’t procedurally get to it,” Reid said.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said that after House approval, the soonest the Wall Street reform could pass the Senate would be Saturday or Sunday.
He expressed concern that some Republicans who are likely to vote for it might change their mind if forced to stay in session into the July 4 weekend to get the bill to President Barack Obama’s desk. Dodd said the House would not likely pass the revised Wall Street reform bill until Thursday.
Final approval of the legislation was slowed by GOP opposition to a proposal to pay for its cost with a nearly $19 billion tax on large financial institutions. Dodd and other negotiators have since changed the legislation, paying for it with a plan to end the Troubled Asset Relief Program several months before its scheduled expiration.
It is unclear whether that change will win the votes of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Maine Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, who all voted for the Senate's Wall Street reform bill.
Brown issued a non-committal statment on Wednesday. “I appreciate the conference committee revisiting the Wall Street reform bill and removing the $19 billion bank tax," Brown said in the statement. "Over the July recess, I will continue to review this important bill."
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