The legislation is opposed by the White House. Differences with the House, which approved a similar measure of its own, must be resolved before a final bill can be sent to President George W. Bush in the hope he will sign it into law.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said he was optimistic small disagreements with the House would quickly be resolved and that Congress could finish the legislation as early as next week, especially if some language the White House dislikes is dropped.

In conversations earlier on Friday with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Dodd said he had “heard nothing but positive comments,” bolstering his hope a bill would be enacted.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, also was upbeat following the Senate’s action, saying she thought a House-Senate deal would be reached soon. “Recent record foreclosures and continued instability in the housing market underscore the urgency of completing a comprehensive bill ... which I hope President Bush will sign,” Pelosi said.

At the heart of the bill is a multibillion-dollar fund to help an estimated 400,000 financially strapped homeowners swap their shaky loans for fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages.

It would also overhaul regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s largest mortgage finance companies, while sending federal money to states and communities to buy and renovate foreclosed properties.

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