US Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of America's financial regulations Thursday, securing for President Barack Obama his third major, hard-fought legislative victory. The White House said Obama likely would sign the bill next week. He said passage of the giant crackdown on the financial sector will provide long deserved economic security to American families and businesses. The legislation cracks down on banks and Wall Street in the hopes of avoiding another major financial meltdown. The Senate's 60-39 vote came nearly two years after a financial crisis knocked the US economy to its knees. He said the legislation ensures there will be no more taxpayer bailouts of banks and that Americans will not have to foot the bill for Wall Street's excesses. Obama was certain to hail Senate passage of the legislation that is designed to head off a repeat of the near-collapse of the US financial system shortly before he took office. The bill has been Obama's top domestic priority after the passage of health care legislation and his early victory in setting up a nearly $800 billion fund to pump life into an economy hit with the deepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The 2,300-page bill aims to address regulatory weaknesses blamed for the 2008 financial crisis. It gives regulators broad authority to rein in banks, limit risk-taking by financial firms and supervise previously unregulated trading. It also makes it easier to liquidate large, financially interconnected institutions, and it creates a new consumer protection bureau to guard against lending abuses. The measure also includes new protections for millions of American consumers. Only three opposition Republicans in the Senate backed the overhaul, a reflection of the party's solidarity in bucking Obama's legislative agenda. The measure has already passed in the House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a larger margin of votes. Partisan rancor in the US has reached levels seldom encountered in recent history. Republicans are widely expected to recapture many seats from the Democratic majority in both the House and Senate in congressional elections in November. Americans' frustrations and fears spawned by near-10 percent unemployment and a sputtering economic recovery are playing into Republican hands.
