WASHINGTON — House Republicans worked to undo former President Barack Obama’s law overhauling the nation’s financial rules, arguing that it is undermining economic growth. Democrats countered that the effort risked a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that pushed the economy to the brink of collapse.

The Financial Services Committee’s effort got off to a slow start Tuesday as Democrats insisted that the entire, nearly 600-page replacement bill be read aloud before the committee even considered amendments.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law put the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the 1930s Depression. It clamped down on banking practices and expanded consumer protections to restrain reckless conduct by financial firms and prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.

“It’s time for the bailouts to end. It’s time to help small businesses on Main Street, said Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling.”

But Democrats accused the GOP of amnesia about what led to the meltdown. They said Hensarling’s bill would gut consumer protection and allow banks to make the kind of risky investments that required taxpayers to come to the rescue of the nation’s largest financial institutions nearly a decade ago.

“It’s an invitation for another Great Recession or worse,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

Hensarling’s bill targets the heart of the law’s restrictions on banks by offering a trade-off: Banks could qualify for most of the regulatory relief in the bill so long as they meet a strict basic requirement for building capital to cover unexpected big losses. He says the capital requirements will work as an insurance policy against a financial institution going out of business.