US Senate passes mammoth housing rescue bill

The US Senate on Friday passed a mammoth housing rescue bill aimed at helping thousands of Americans to keep their homes, amid a deepening mortgage foreclosure crisis.
The vote came was the government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teetered on the brink of crisis, and went through after weeks of wrangling between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
The measure, which passed 63-5 in a sparsely attended end-of-week session in the 100-member chamber, will now be sent back to the House of Representatives, which has passed its own version of the legislation.