Over the weekend of September 27-28, it appeared that the U.S. House had reached agreement on a massive bill, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Act), designed to help put the U.S. financial sector back on its feet and calm Wall Street’s fears. However, the House failed to pass the Act on September 29 by a 228-205 vote. The vote came after a five-minute partisan speech by House Speaker Pelosi who blamed the current problem in the financial markets on the Bush Administration. The Senate took up its own version of the Act and passed it on October 1 by a 74-25 margin. The two bills are similar in many respects, but the Senate version also contained language that extends expired or expiring tax provisions, and Midwestern disaster relief. The House then considered the Senate version of the legislation (H.R. 1424, Pub.L. No. 110-343) and passed it by a 263-171 margin.
The President immediately signed the bill.