US House members debate Wall Street bailout bill

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Buffeted by unusually aggressive pressure from the White House, members of the US House of Representatives debated hotly-contested Wall Street bailout legislation Monday as a key architect conceded its unpopularity. "Many of us feel that the national interest requires us to do something which is, in many ways, unpopular," said Rep. Barney Frank, the Financial Services Committee chairman. "It is hard to get political credit for avoiding something that has not yet happened." As debate opened, Frank, a Democrat, called the measure "a tough vote," but a necessary one to stave off a financial meltdown. With their dire warnings of impending economic doom and their sweeping request for unprecedented sums of money and authority to bail out cash-starved financial firms, President George W. Bush and his economic chiefs have focused the attention of the world and the markets on Congress, said Republican Rep. Paul Ryan. Without the bill, Ryan added, "the worst is yet to come." "We're in this moment, and if we fail to do the right thing, Heaven help us," he said.