President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged U.S. lawmakers to quickly approve a financial rescue package to “stabilize” volatile markets, and he expressed optimism that his administration's plan would pass. “The Senate's going to take this bill up tonight, I'm hopeful they'll pass it, and then the House [of Representatives] will have a chance to vote on it Friday morning,” Bush said. “The bill's different, it's been improved, and I'm confident it'll pass,” he said, referring to an earlier version that was rejected Monday, sending stock markets sharply lower. Throughout the day, Bush spoke by telephone to key lawmakers—both committed supporters of the plan and wavering Republicans. “It's very important for us to pass this piece of legislation so as to stabilize the situation, so that it doesn't get worse and then our fellow citizens lose wealth and work,” the U.S. president said. Bush praised lawmakers for making changes to legislation that would allow the government to buy $700 in bad mortgage debt, allowing the financial system to restore credit and liquidity to save troubled banks and end the current credit freeze. “It's very important for members to take this bill very seriously,” said Bush, who failed to persuade many of his fellow Republicans to back an initial version on Monday. “It's important to get credit flowing again so that small businesses in our communities will be able to finance their operations, so that local municipalities are able to get the money they need to take care of the needs of local citizens, so that states are able to meet their needs,” the president said. Senators have made some changes to the legislation, including raising Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protections to cover bank deposits up to $250,000, an increase from the current $100,000 limit.
