Legislators are widely expected to approve a housing rescue bill by the end of the month.
The House overwhelmingly approved a House-Senate agreement on an $18.8 billion measure to finance a variety of programs run by the Interior Department as well as provide money for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Congress has passed only the first half of that proposal and, with an eye on next month's mid-term elections, the Senate has now approved a House proposal to build up to 700 miles (1,100km) of fencing on America's southern border.The same goes for trade.
All told, the staggered rounds and possible runoffs mean that Egyptians may be voting on as many as a dozen days between now and June, electing an upper and lower house, approving a constitution and electing a president.
Two months after the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, the Senate approved a transport and housing bill that included money for a stadium in Montana and a museum in Las Vegas.The result is disarray.
WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a package of housing bills on Friday, including a rescue plan aimed at helping hundreds of thousands of borrowers avoid foreclosure and a regulatory overhaul for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the battered mortgage finance companies.
The legislation also was approved by a house committee, but has yet to be called for a floor vote.
The size of loan approved for a house purchase also increased to just shy of £170,000, compared to a typical loan of £159,000 two years ago.
The bill, which would make it harder for people to erase their debts in bankruptcy, was approved by a House-Senate conference committee last month.
The compromise bill, approved by a House-Senate conference committee late last week, would confirm that electronic signatures and electronic records were legal.
