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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — If you're under the impression that dealers have arrived at the finish line victoriously with the Brownback amendment, you might want to hold off on the high fives. Here's a dose of reality: We haven't won anything yet. Let me explain.

As you know, since late last year there has been a push both inside and outside the beltway for the federal government to increase its oversight of big financial institutions. Unfortunately, car dealers got swept up in the original House bill and were lumped in with big Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs.

The Campbell Amendment introduced in the House of Representatives, sponsored by former car dealer John Campbell (R-Calif.), exempted dealers from oversight by the proposed new federal agency created within the legislation.

It was passed out of the House Financial Services Committee with a strong bipartisan vote. Next, a nearly identical financial regulatory bill, including dealers, was introduced in the Senate. Once more, an amendment was proposed that would exempt dealers.

The Brownback amendment was introduced by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and received enthusiastic support from AIADA during our Fourth Annual International Auto Industry Summit in May.

Under the Campbell and Brownback amendments, captive finance groups and buy-here, pay-here dealers would still be subject to oversight by the new agency. And all dealers would still be regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve and various state entities. In short, dealers weren't looking to get away with anything; we just wanted to avoid needless new red tape.

Senators never voted directly on the Brownback amendment. Instead, they voted ‘yes' on the bill with the original language, thereby including dealers.

However, the senators did vote on a motion to instruct conferees that directed those senators who would sit on the conference committee — a special group that is selected by their leadership and directed to combine the House and Senate bills into one piece of legislation — to accept the House's language excluding dealers from the law's oversight.

Effectively, it was a way for the Senate to go on record supporting dealers while avoiding a potential messy fight on additional financial amendments.

And that's where dealers are today — waiting for the conferees, who will include House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, to decide our fate.

Click here for the complete list of conferees. The White House is also expected to weigh in heavily.

While there may be a lot of televised pomp and circumstance surrounding the conference, the real decisions will be made by a select few individuals behind closed doors.

As Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) told The Wall Street Journal this week, "There will be ‘a' conference committee, and then there will be ‘the' conference committee."

As regular citizens, we will find it difficult to influence the conference committee or hold legislators accountable. It's frustrating, but it's reality. To do your part, follow this link and enter your ZIP code.

If you are a constituent of a conferee, you will receive an e-mail to send him or her. If you are not a constituent, you will be sent back to our main alert page.

If that happens, click here to go to a page that provides you with talking points and the phone numbers for Rep. Barney Frank's and Sen. Chris Dodd's Capitol Hill offices. Making that call will make a big difference.

Today, AIADA is hopeful that the conferees will accept the House's language, the Senate's instructions and the wishes of their constituents and remove dealers from the final law's oversight by the July 4 recess.

We wouldn't have made it this far without the overwhelming efforts of dealers like you. No matter what the final bill looks like, AIADA will be in Washington working hard to make sure your interests are represented.