WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday sent Congress legislation that would make the Federal Reserve the financial system's top cop, an effort designed to avoid a repeat of last year's crisis when troubles at a handful of major firms threatened the entire economy.

Designating the Fed as a systemic risk regulator was included in a package of draft legislation that also would establish a new Financial Services Oversight Council to boost coordination among regulators and a plan to raise capital requirements for financial institutions.

But many lawmakers have expressed reservations about giving the Fed such power, arguing that it could undermine the agency's primary responsibility of overseeing interest-rate policies. Critics also contend that last year's financial crisis showed weaknesses in how the central bank was carrying outs its current role.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday told the Senate Banking Committee that he did not believe the central bank's role under the administration's proposal would be "radically different" than its current one. The Fed already has authority over bank holding companies, a category that includes all the nation's largest banks.

The administration's proposals, if enacted, would be the most extensive overhaul of financial rules since the Great Depression. The administration announced the overall proposal on June 17 and has been sending Congress proposed legislation needed to implement the changes.

"We are pounding out the legislation every day. We are sending it up to the Hill as soon as we are sure it is right," Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Barr told reporters.

Draft legislation to establish a resolution authority for the largest institutions that fail will be sent to Congress today along with a proposal to create a National Bank Supervisor merging the functions of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision, he said.