Washington -- The House passed a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry Friday in an effort to breathe life into an economy that is seriously ailing as credit continues to dry up. Congressional leaders immediately sent the bill to President Bush, who signed it into law less than 90 minutes later.

"We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," Bush said. "We have shown the world that the United States of America will stabilize our financial markets and maintain a leading role in the global economy."

But even as lawmakers congratulated each other for passing the measure, many were careful not to raise the expectations of the millions of Americans who could end up on the hook for billions of dollars.

"No one can be certain about this," said Rep. Barney Frank (D- Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "We are sure it will make improvements. It may work better or worse than we think. We will be watching it very closely."

The 263-171 vote comes just four days after the defeat of a similar proposal Monday contributed to the largest one-day stock market point drop in history. House leaders had worked to obtain at least an additional 13 votes for Friday's measure, which passed by a much wider margin than expected.

A total of 58 House members changed their votes from no to yes after hearing from nervous constituents worried about an economic collapse after the measure's failure earlier in the week. Wisconsin's eight House members didn't change their minds about the measure.

Democratic Reps. Gwen Moore, Ron Kind, Tammy Baldwin and David Obey voted for the rescue, as did Republican Rep. Paul Ryan. GOP Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner and Tom Petri and Democrat Steve Kagen voted against it.

Ryan, one of 91 Republicans who supported the measure, said the financial rescue may not completely avert a recession but will surely ease some of the country's economic troubles.

"We are going to have a bumpy road ahead of us," he said. "It's really a matter of doing everything we can right now to prevent a severe recession."

Kagen, one of 63 Democrats who voted against the measure, remained steadfast in his opposition.

"I understand that something must be done to revive our economy, but borrowing billions and billons in additional debt is not the answer," the Appleton congressman, who faces a tight re-election fight, said in a statement. "I was elected to represent the best interests of families in Northeast Wisconsin -- not Wall Street -- and this bill does not help them."

One month before election day, the drama unfolded in an intensely political atmosphere.