The U.S. Senate, after weeks of wrangling, completed work on Friday on its plan to save hundreds of thousands of American homeowners and their families from foreclosure and sent it to the House of Representatives.

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.

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.

The legislation was drafted to ease failing loans that have swept across the country, driving down housing prices, pushing people out of their homes and sending financial markets into a tailspin.

Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, which he has called too costly and exceedingly helpful to lenders who have been largely blamed for the problem. But he has said he wants to work with lawmakers to find common ground.

The home owners need help, but I am sorry a bailout a bank is not acceptable.