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Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of four Republicans in the Senate that voted yesterday to pass financial reform, sent a statement to reporters on Friday justifying his support for the bill.

“There’s no question this bill has flaws," he said. "But a message needs to be sent to Wall Street that business-as-usual is over. After what happened leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, something’s got to change."

During the nearly three week long debate on the bill, Grassley offered a number of amendments aimed at increasing transparency within the financial regulatory sector, three of which passed. One of those amendments would put in place for employees of credit-rating agencies the same whistle-blower protections enjoyed by corporate employees.

Though earlier in the week he voted multiple times against cutting off debate on the bill, Grassley said the need to reform the way Wall Street works is what ultimately convinced him to change his mind.

"Taxpayers need protection," he said. "Big banks and financial institutions took advantage at the expense of average Americans, and the system let them get away with it. This bill takes a step in the direction of trying to fix things."