Shelby warns financial bill still doesn't have his full support

Despite a key agreement reached Wednesday, Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he still does not fully support the financial regulatory overhaul.

Shelby released a statement after he and Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) settled on a portion of the legislation preventing "too big to fail" financial firms, a major point of dispute between Republicans and Democrats entering the debate.

"I thank Chairman Dodd for including my changes to the legislation that will correct these critical shortcomings," the Alabama senator said. "While this progress is encouraging, the overall legislation still has a long way to go to gain my support."  

The "too big to fail" language is expected to be offered as an amendment and voted on Wednesday afternoon. The move represents significant progress, but much has to be done before work is finished on the bill.

Senate Democrats are hoping to conclude work on the bill next week, but amendments to the measure are beginning to pile up.

If they hold their caucus together, Democrats need at least one Republican to cross the aisle in order to break any potential filibuster of amendments or the bill itself.

Shelby has cautioned that the process could take longer due to GOP objections to portions of the legislation.

"My Republican colleagues and I will continue to offer constructive proposals to restrain the drastic government overreach in this bill and promote the competitiveness of our financial system during this time of economic difficulty," he said. "It is my hope that this legislation can be further improved to achieve these important goals as well."

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