* HOUSING RESCUE: Voting 272 for and 152 against, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 3221) that authorizes a standby taxpayer bailout of the private companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, allows up to 400,000 troubled mortgages to be reworked into government-backed loans, allows $7,500 tax credits to certain first-time home buyers and grants $4 billion to help communities and nonprofits acquire and market foreclosed properties.

Additionally, the bill raises the national debt limit from $9.8 trillion to $10.6 trillion; approves $11 billion in tax-exempt bonds that communities would use to refinance troubled mortgages and provide affordable rental housing; allows taxpayers who do not itemize deductions to treat $500 or $1,000 of their 2008 property taxes as a federal tax deduction, and raises to as high as $625,000 the maximum loan that can be federally insured.

The standby bailout is projected to cost taxpayers up to $25 billion if ever invoked. The bill would create the Federal Housing Finance Agency to stiffen regulation of the two firms. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; David Price, D-4; Mike McIntyre; D-7, Robin Hayes, R-8; Heath Shuler, D-11; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13

Voting no: Walter Jones, R-3; Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10

* STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: Voting 268 for and 157 against, the House on Thursday failed to reach a two-thirds majority needed to pass a bill (HR 6578) requiring President Bush to gradually diminish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 10 percent over several months. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Hayes, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry

* GLOBAL AIDS FUNDING: Voting 303 for and 115 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill (HR 5501) authorizing $50 billion over five years for U.S. support of international programs to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The bill earmarks 80 percent of its AIDS funds for treatment programs such as the distribution of antiviral drugs and ends a mandate that one-third of AIDS spending be allocated to abstinence programs.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Price, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Jones, Foxx, Coble, McIntyre, Hayes, Myrick, McHenry

* BRIDGE-SAFETY INSPECTIONS: Voting 367 for and 55 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill (HR 3999) to upgrade bridge inspections in the U.S. at a cost of $2 billion between 2008-2012. The bill requires states to put the riskiest bridges first in line for repairs; requires more-frequent bridge inspections; upgrades training and certification standards for inspectors, and directs the Department of Transportation to complete pending reports on the condition of specific bridges. The bill awaits Senate action. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Hayes, Myrick, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Foxx, Coble, McHenry

U.S. SENATE

* HOUSING RESCUE DEBATE: Voting 80 for and 13 against, the Senate on Friday agreed to debate a House-passed bill (HR 3221) that would potentially bail out the housing-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill also would help 400,000 holders of at-risk mortgages keep their homes under reworked loans, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $2.7 billion; provide localities with grants and bonding authority for reversing foreclosure blight; grant tax breaks to homeowners who do not itemize income taxes and certain first-time home buyers; raise the national debt ceiling and create a new agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A yes vote was to advance the bill.

Voting yes: Elizabeth Dole, R

Voting no: Richard Burr, R

* OIL-MARKET SPECULATION: Voting 50 for and 43 against, the Senate on Friday failed to reach 60 votes needed to end GOP blockage of a bill (S 3268) directing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to curb "excessive speculation" in the oil-futures market. The agency has authority under existing law to determine whether market prices for commodities accurately reflect supply and demand. A yes vote was to advance the bill.

Voting no: Dole, Burr

* HOUSING RESCUE: Voting 72 for and 13 against, the Senate on Saturday voted to send the housing rescue bill (HR 3221, above) to the president for his signature; the House passed it Wednesday. The bill aims to help homeowners facing foreclosure and to prevent mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from failing. A yes vote was a vote to pass the bill.

Not voting: Dole, Burr

(VOTES IN CONGRESS NEWSPAPER SYNDICATE)

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