Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today that the worst recession since the Great Depression has probably come to an end.

"The recession is very likely over at this point," Bernanke said at the Brookings Institution.

Bernanke made the blockbuster announcement and said he is confident Congress will help guard against another financial meltdown of this magnitude with legislation that will help rewrite the U.S. financial playbook because the collapse was "too big a calamity" for the government to ignore.

"I feel quite confident that a comprehensive reform will be forthcoming," he said.

Get more: MSNBC