Obama: US can't afford to see financial reform killed

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday he was "deeply disappointed" after Senate Republicans blocked debate on a financial regulatory reform bill and said the American people cannot afford to see the legislation derailed.

"Some of these Senators may believe that this obstruction is a good political strategy, and others may see delay as an opportunity to take this debate behind closed doors, where financial industry lobbyists can water down reform or kill it altogether. But the American people can't afford that," Obama said in a statement.

"The reform that both parties have been working on for a year would prevent a crisis like this from happening again, and I urge the Senate to get back to work and put the interests of the country ahead of party," he said. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick)