Congress Under Pressure for Weekend Deal

   

The U.S. Congress and the

Bush administration were under intense pressure on Saturday to negotiate a $700 billion rescue for the financial industry to free up frozen credit before world markets reopen next week.

"I'm convinced that by Sunday we will have an agreement that people can understand on this bill," said Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a key Democrat in eight days of up-and-down talks designed to stave off an economic disaster.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid said there about 15 issues left to resolve but he, too, hopes a deal will be reached by Sunday.

Top U.S. Senate Republicans said Saturday that they were making good progress. "The goal would be to announce an agreement tomorrow and to have a vote on Monday," Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, told reporters.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President George W. Bush both expressed optimism on Friday that a deal could be reached soon to stave off the worst U.S. financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Neither Pelosi nor Frank divulged details at a late-afternoon news conference in the Capitol, though there was word of a large Democratic concession.

Democratic and Republican staff aides met into the night on Capitol Hill, going line by line through legislative proposals in an attempt to clear the way for lawmakers to bargain over the weekend