Sen. Amy Klobuchar sees hope that economy is improving

Although unemployment still remains high, Sen. Amy Klobuchar sees some glimmers of hope that the U.S. economy is on the mend.

"I can say that things have improved from three or months ago," said Klobuchar, a Democrat and Minnesota's senior senator.

What's important is to keep moving forward, she told an audience in Willmar today.

Klobuchar spoke at the annual Women's Expo, hosted by the West Central Tribune and Affiliated Community Medical Centers. An audience of around 100 greeted her with warm applause and lined up afterwards to shake the senator's hand.

Klobuchar said history will some day judge Congress's actions to fix the economy and reform health care and determine "whether we were timid or courageous, or right or wrong."

Bailing out Wall Street was a controversial decision but was necessary to help stabilize the economy, she said. "That was a crisis moment in the economy."

One of her current priorities is to improve the regulation of large financial institutions and prevent another future collapse. Small community banks that were fiscally prudent should be treated separately so they don't end up being hurt by regulations designed to rein in the largest banks, Klobuchar said.

"I still believe we're going to have to be very careful to protect our community banks," she said.