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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| US Senate approves housing bill | US Senate approves housing bill |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The US Senate has approved a rescue bill designed to prop up America's battered housing market. | The US Senate has approved a rescue bill designed to prop up America's battered housing market. |
| The new law will allow homeowners to get cheaper loans and may also be used to bail out the struggling mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. | The new law will allow homeowners to get cheaper loans and may also be used to bail out the struggling mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. |
| The bill has been approved in a very short time. President George Bush is expected to sign it into law next week. | The bill has been approved in a very short time. President George Bush is expected to sign it into law next week. |
| Between them, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee around half the country's mortgage debt. | Between them, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee around half the country's mortgage debt. |
| The BBC's Jack Izzard in Washington says the bill will help hundreds of thousands of Americans trapped by mortgages they can no longer afford. | |
| They will be offered the chance to refinance with state-backed, fixed rate loans. | |
| The bill's Republican critics say it will cost US taxpayers billions, and query the wisdom of bailing out irresponsible homeowners or unscrupulous lenders. | |
| President Bush had initially threatened to veto the bill. |