Senate approves Wall Street bailout
US senate approves revised version of Bush administration's $700 billion Wall Street bailout package
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Thursday, 02, Oct 2008 07:53
The United States Senate has approved a revised version of the Bush administration's $700 billion (£397 billion) Wall Street bailout package.
Senators, including White House nominees Barack Obama and John McCain, voted in favour of the rescue plan to a majority of 74 votes to 25.
Before the package can be passed into law it must be voted on by the lower house of Congress.
The House of Representatives sent world markets tumbling on Monday when it rejected the plan in its then form.
It is hoped the strong show of bipartisanship in the upper house and further amendments to the bill will see congressmen and women vote in favour of it.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid, speaking after Republican and Democratic leaders urged senators to pass the bill, said the bailout was "not for Wall Street but the whole of America".
And Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he hoped a "good vote" in the Senate would have a positive impact in the lower house.
In an earlier debate, Democratic presidential nominee Mr Obama said that senators "could not fail".
"This is not just a Wall Street crisis, this is an American crisis," the Illinois senator warned.
Hillary Clinton said the "blank cheque" treasury secretary Henry Paulson had first requested had been replaced by an improved package that deserved the support of both sides of Washington.
George Bush has already warned of "economic hardship for millions of Americans", while Mr Paulson said the situation on Wall Street was becoming more precarious every day that the bill remained unapproved.
In the UK, prime minister Gordon Brown has expressed hope that "reason would prevail" on Capitol Hill, while in the European Union, French president Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly hoping to see a €300 billion (£237 billion) rescue package approved.