Congress Moves Closer to Rescue Plan Agreement
Congress moved closer to an agreement on a $700 billion financial rescue plan as President George W. Bush urged swift action to help avert "a long and painful'' recession.
"The package is basically done,'' Representative Paul Kanjorski, a Pennsylvania Democrat told CNBC today. "The hard issues are resolved. They have to shake hands. They have to smile and they have to have the photo set.''
In a 13-minute prime-time address to the nation last night, Bush said, "Without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic, and a distressing scenario would unfold.'' He summoned the presidential nominees to the White House to help speed the bipartisan negotiations.
Even as the president spoke, Congress was advancing toward an accord on a plan for the government to buy troubled assets from financial firms.
Immediately following the speech, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank told reporters that House and Senate Democrats had reached a deal on legislation. Members of Frank's panel -- Republicans and Democrats -- will meet with their Senate counterparts at 10 a.m. today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said in a statement.
In the meantime, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain suspended his campaign and has called for a delay in the debate scheduled on Friday with Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama scheduled to deal with the economic crisis.
Published on September 25, 2008
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