US President George W. Bush yesterday urged Congress to approve the 700-billion-dollar bailout plan, saying a failure could lead the United States into "a long and painful recession."

"We are in the midst of a serious financial crisis and the federal government is responding with decisive action," Bush said in a televised national address.

He warned that "the market is not functioning properly, "there is widespread loss of confidence. While without the rescue package, the largest financial bailout since the Great Depression," America could slip into a financial panic," he warned.

"Fellow citizens, we must not let this happen," he said.

The rescue plan would give the Bush Administration broad power to buy the bad debt of any U.S. financial institutions for the next two years.

It also would raise the statutory limit on the national debt from 10.6 trillion dollars to 11.3 trillion dollars in order to make room for the massive rescue.

Some lawmakers insisted that government should get a stake in the companies helped by the unprecedented rescue.

Earlier Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged the Congress t"to act quickly to address the grave threats to financial stability that we currently face," and warned of economic consequences if the Bush administration's bailout plan isn't enacted and if credit woes persist.

"The intensification of financial stress in recent weeks, which will make lenders still more cautious about extending credit to households and business, could prove a significant drag on growth," he said. "The downside risks to the outlook thus remain a significant concern."