Obama urges Senate to pass Wall Street bill

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the financial reform bill is good for the entire economy, and the Senate should give it a green light as soon as possible.

Obama said in a statement that the bill will prevent another financial crisis and will be good for the entire country and the economy.

The legislation, which cleared the House of Representatives on June 30, is the most ambitious rewrite of financial regulations since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

It aims to curb Wall Street's high-risk practices blamed for the global economic meltdown of 2008, solve the systemic risk of the "too big to fail" problem among financial firms, and create a consumer protection agency to better protect Americans.

Obama expressed his appreciation for some Republican lawmakers' support for this bill, saying that they have "put politics and partisanship aside."

Democrats appeared to have garnered the 60 votes they need to move the Wall Street reform bill through the Senate after three Republican senators announced their support for the bill.

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