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Boehner spoke at a press conference just hours after the Republicans swept back to control of the House, paving the way for the Ohio Republican to become speaker of the chamber in January.
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He was asked whether Republicans would attempt to overturn the wide- ranging financial regulatory law, known as the Dodd-Frank Act after the Democratic lawmakers who shepherded it through Congress this year.
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"When it comes to the financial services bill...it is going to require a significant amount of oversight so not only will the Congress understand but the American people understand just what this bill will do to our financial services industry," Boehner responded, leaving the strong impression that oversight, rather than repeal, would be the Republican strategy.
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This contrasts with Boehner's response moments earlier when he was asked about the health-care law, another Democratic legislative accomplishment that Republicans fiercely oppose.
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In reference to that law, he said it was a top priority of Republicans to seek to repeal the health-care law and replace it with "common sense reform."
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Earlier Wednesday, a top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee told the Wall Street Journal that while oversight of the Dodd-Frank law would be a top priority of the panel, he would seek to amend at least one part of it.
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Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.), the top Republican on the panel, said he would seek to replace the derivatives section of the act, calling it a "job-killer."
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Bachus is likely to become the financial services committee's chairman when the GOP takes control of the House in January.
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While his answer appears to at least partially contradict Boehner's comments, it is clear that coming just 14 hours after the election, Republicans are still trying to establish their legislative strategy.
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Boehner was also asked whether he would insist that all the Bush-era tax cuts be renewed, rather than just those for middle-class Americans.
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"We continue to believe that extending all the current tax rates for all Americans is the right policy for our country at this time," he said.
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Speaking at the press conference alongside Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said that if Democrats would come toward the Republicans, he believed that progress could be made on a number of policy fronts during the next two years.
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"If the president comes in our direction, we want to make progress over the next two years," McConnell said.
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He cited federal government spending and debt levels, trade agreements, nuclear energy production and advancements in clean coal technology as policy areas the two parties could potentially agree on.
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The Republican Senate leader said he believed there would be bipartisan agreement on how to address spending to start bringing down the debt.
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"I believe we'll have enough Democrats coming in our direction on the issue of spending and debt," he said.
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Republicans failed to take control of the Senate, but they did make significant gains, picking up at least six seats in the chamber.
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-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com
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Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=g7waOW3b7LFS2%2FQTZF%2FfMg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 03, 2010 13:12 ET (17:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 01 12 PM EDT 11-03-10
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