‘Rescue’ bill White House bound

A sweeping housing bill that would aid homeowners and ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to be signed into law by President Bush in the middle of this week after passing the Senate on Saturday. The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act passed the Senate 72-13. The bill’s sponsors — Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the U.S Senate Committee on Banking, and Richard Shelby, R-Ala. — described the bill as “the most comprehensive housing legislation in over a generation.” The measure had faced a veto threat from President Bush due to the fact that the bill includes $3.9 billion earmarked for neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures, but the White House dropped its opposition July 23 hours before the House of Representatives passed the legislation (InvestmentNews July 24). “This legislation will address our broader economic problems by helping to reform our housing sector and provide reassurances to our financial markets,” Mr. Dodd said in a statement after the bill’s passage.