Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the administration's $700 billion plan to buy troubled financial assets must be enacted quickly and that failure to act would spread damage to the entire country.

``Failure to act would have broad consequences far beyond Wall Street,'' Bush said in a statement today before leaving the White House for a three-day annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. ``It would threaten small business owners and homeowners on Main Street.''

The three-page rescue plan sent to Congress Sept. 20 empowers Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to purchase mortgage- related securities from U.S. financial companies. The administration widened the scope of bad loans that may be acquired, potentially including car loans, credit-card debt and other devalued assets held by banks.

The most sweeping intervention by the federal government into capital markets since the Great Depression is aimed at removing bad loans from company balance sheets and restoring market stability.

Investors remained concerned. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index fell 22.13, or 1.76 percent, to 1,232.95 at 10:23 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154.83, or 1.36 percent, to 11,233.61.

Setting Aside Politics

Bush said Americans are watching whether the White House and Congress can set aside election-minded political priorities and pass the measure ``with the urgency it warrants.''

``Indeed, the whole world is watching to see if we can act quickly to shore up our markets and prevent damage to our capital markets, businesses, our housing sector and retirement accounts,'' Bush said.

The president said congressional leaders ``made good headway'' over the weekend on the bill.

He said lawmakers shouldn't add items to the measure that might slow its progress, and he appealed to Congress to keep the focus on resolving the crisis in the financial markets.

``It would not be understandable if members of Congress sought to use this emergency legislation to pass unrelated provisions, or to insist on provisions that would undermine the effectiveness of the plan,'' the president said.

Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, say they won't stand in the way of speedy action. But they want limits on the compensation of executives at companies benefiting from the rescue and more mortgage relief for struggling homeowners.

Paulson and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke are scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow to explain the plan in detail.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 22, 2008 10:36 EDT