Grassley joins Democrats on financial reform bill

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley crossed party lines on Thursday to give Democrats a victory on a massive financial reform package that will overhaul the nation's banking system and change the way Wall Street does business.

The Iowa Republican was one of only four members of his party in the Senate to vote for the plan, which was approved by a 59-39 vote.

"There's no question this bill has flaws, but a message needs to be sent to Wall Street that business-as-usual is over," said Grassley.

After what happened leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, something's got to change...This bill takes a step in the direction of trying to fix things."

The other Republicans who voted for the bill were Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snow of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin joined most of his Democratic colleagues in voting for the package.

But most Republicans criticized the massive 1,500-page bill as too much government intrusion into the nation's financial industry.

"In my opinion, it's an overreach," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

The Senate bill must now be merged with a similar House bill. That final legislation must be approved by both houses before financial reform becomes law.

Democratic leaders hope to send President Obama a final bill to sign before the July 4th holiday.

-- Ana Radelat, Capitol News Connection