The U.S. House of Representatives began debate Friday morning on the $700 billion economic bailout package, the second effort by lawmakers to get the bill passed.

The debate on Friday represented a do-over for the House, which rejected the deal on Monday, leading to a 777-point decline in the Dow Jones industrial average. The Senate on Wednesday then passed a sweetened version of the bill, which the House was debating on Friday.

The House convened shortly after 9 a.m. and a few members gave one-minute speeches before the motion to adopt the bailout package was read and formal debate began. A final vote on the bill was expected by early afternoon.

"If we don't act today, credit markets will freeze," said Representative Frank Pallone Jr., Democrat of New Jersey. "This is something we simply can't allow to happen."

Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois, said, "This is only the first step." He added: "The middle class is hurting and squeezing. The second economic program must put their needs at the heart of what we do."

During the debate, Representative David Dreier, a Republican from California and the party's ranking member on the House Rules Committee, called the bill "a necessary evil."

"Today we are not experiencing market failure," Dreier said. "We're experiencing the inevitable attempts of government to manipulate the market." He said the bill needed to pass in order to undo the government's wrongs.

Policy makers and investors worldwide are closely watching the outcome of the vote because they believe the measure is critical to prevent a further weakening of the U.S. and global economy. Leaders of some of the largest countries in Europe planned to meet Saturday to discuss dealing with the credit crisis there.

The decision to bring the measure to the floor came after Republican leaders struggled on Thursday to persuade some of their members to reverse course and support the package and after top Democrats said earlier that they would not bring the bill to the floor unless they were certain of victory.

Earlier Thursday, the White House and congressional leaders maneuvered to drum up support and several lawmakers in each party said they were prepared to switch their votes.

But others agonized amid a continuing deluge of calls from angry constituents.

The Senate approved the bailout plan on Wednesday night with a solid bipartisan majority, 74 to 25, after adding a thick portfolio of popular tax provisions.

The Senate action came after House members defied the leadership of both parties and rejected the plan on Monday. The House vote fell 12 votes short, with Republicans opposed by a two-to-one margin. It was opposed by 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans.

The Senate proposal included more than $150 billion in tax breaks, including incentives for solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, but it included offsets to pay for only $43 billion of the tax cuts, infuriating fiscally conservative Democrats in the House.

"We may lose people," said the majority leader, Representative Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland. "Because, frankly, the things that were added on and the way they were added on essentially appeal to Republicans."

But apparently it was not overwhelmingly appealing because only a few Republicans stated publicly that they were prepared to switch their votes to yes.

There was also movement among some Democrats. Representative Emanuel Cleaver 2nd, Democrat of Missouri, announced that he would switch to yes from no. And Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, also planned to switch, Democratic aides said.

A small group of Republicans said they were still hoping to amend the bill and to reduce the amount of money the Treasury could spend on troubled assets of ailing financial companies to $250 billion, from $700 billion. Democrats said they had no plans to allow amendments, which would require the Senate to vote again, further delaying the plan.

Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.

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