Bush To Address Public On Financial Crisis

Some lawmakers had pressed for Bush to make a televised address to explain what was at stake to the American public.

President George W. Bush will seek to convince the American public in a televised address at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday) that a $700 billion financial rescue plan is needed to shore up the U.S. economy.

The Bush administration and the U.S. Congress have been trying to hammer out an agreement on a plan that would allow the government to step in and buy up illiquid loans from shaky Wall Street firms to address financial turmoil in the markets.

Some lawmakers had pressed for Bush to make a televised address to explain what was at stake to the American public.

The unprecedented bailout has met skepticism and anger from lawmakers who argue that the administration's proposal should not be given a rubber stamp.

Bush and the heads of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve have been trying to convince Congress that rejecting the rescue plan would be disastrous for the U.S. economy.

Bush, earlier in New York on Wednesday said, "Our legislative process is full of give-and-take, that there's ample debate, but I am confident that when it's all said and done, there will be a robust plan. And there needs to be."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said Bush has a lot of explaining to do in his national address.

"It is time for him to explain why his administration sat on its hands for months and only now has come to realize the need for immediate and unprecedented government action," he said.

"It is time for him to explain how he could tell our country for months that our economy was fine -- yet overnight, declare that if American taxpayers don't accept his bailout bill, our country will face an economic disaster," Reid said.

Bush had decided the time was right to do a national address, expected to last 12 to 14 minutes, because negotiators were getting close to a legislative solution, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"There is no doubt that because this is such a massive legislative package, and it would have such critical impact on our economy that the president wants to talk directly to the American people," she said.

Bush plans on thanking leaders of both parties in Congress for working to develop "this critical legislation," Perino said.

"We are facing a once in a century crisis in our financial markets," she said.