After the Senate passed the financial bailout package on Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the plan by a 263-171 vote.  President Bush then quickly signed the bill into law on Friday.

Bush signs $700B bailout bill

Clarion-Ledger

WASHINGTON — President Bush has signed into law a far-reaching $700 billion bill to bailout the nation’s tottering financial industry and thanked Congress for acting in a bipartisan and decisive fashion.

“There were moments this week when some thought that the federal government could not rise to the challenge. But thanks to the hard work of members of both parties, in both houses, and the spirit of cooperation between Capitol Hill and my administration, we completed this bill in a timely manner,” Bush said in remarks in the Rose Garden.

The final vote was 263-171 in the House, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than the measure garnered in Monday’s stunning defeat. The vote capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act.

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