September 25, 2008 Raw video: Lawmakers discuss'fundamental agreement' reached in financial bailout Play video

(NECN: Capitol Hill) - House and Senate leaders say they have reached a "fundamental agreement" on principles that can be used to craft a bailout package for the nation's financial markets.

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told reportets that an acceptable bill would be crafted and passed "in the next few days, we can't say exactly when."

Dodd said, "We have reached a fundamental agreement on a set of principles -- one, for taxpayers, which is tremendously important. We're giving the Secretary (of the Treasury) the authority he will need in order to act, and the funding he would need." Dodd said he was also pleased with arrangements being made for what he termed "effective oversight," homeowner preservation and executive compensation, although he declined to share any specifics of the agreement before it was presented to the Treasury Department.

Senate Banking Committee minority leader Robert Bennett (R-Utah) praised the bipartisan process. "We focused on solving the problem, rather than posturing politically," he said, "and it was one of the most productive sessions in that regard that I have participated in in my time in the Senate."

House Financial Services chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the agreement should calm the markets, and noted, "Some of us have been invited to the White House to try and break a deadlock, and I'm glad that well be able to go and tell them that there isn't that much of