Maine's 1st District Congresswoman says HR 4173 will protect consumers from being exploited by big banks and credit card companies.

Maine's 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today urged her colleagues to approve a sweeping financial reform bill that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Speaking on the floor of the House this afternoon, Pingree said the measure closes loopholes that have allowed big banks and credit card companies to run "rough-shod" over American consumers.

"With this bill, we can ensure that hard-working families in Maine and across the country are never again on the hook for risky and irresponsible schemes by putting an end to tax-payer bailouts and the 'too big to fail firms' that threatened to bring down our entire enconomy," she said.

HR 4173 also allows for limits on executive compensation and regulates trading in so-called derivatives, such as credit default swaps, risky financial products that are blamed, in part, for causing the financial meltdown.