Bush confident on bipartisan financial rescue bill

President George W. Bush (R) meets with the Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 23, 2008.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he was confident that a bipartisan bill would emerge from Congress for a massive $700 billion financial rescue plan despite concerns from Republicans and Democrats.

"There are good ideas that need to be listened to in order to get a good bill out that will address the situation," Bush said as he met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

"I'm confident, Mr. President, as I told you and other leaders, that there will be a bipartisan bill, that the Republicans and Democrats will come together to get this piece of legislation passed which is necessary to address the financial situation," Bush said.

Bush said during his visit to New York he had heard from world leaders about the plan to deal with the year-long economic crisis but said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposal was a "robust plan to deal with a serious problem."

Bush said there were also questions about congressional action on the plan and also assured them that, after speaking to leaders of the Republicans and Democrats in Congress, there was "the desire to get something done quickly."

However, he did acknowledged there was a natural give and take as the legislation was crafted by lawmakers.

Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were due to testify on Tuesday about the rescue plan which would have Treasury buy billions in bad assets from financial institutions and hold them until they could be sold at a later date.

Some Democrats and Republicans have objected to the rescue plan, split over whether it did not go far enough or it was too much interference in the markets.

Several Democratic lawmakers have said there should be limits on executives' pay at companies that are able to unload illiquid assets and that there should be more accountability in the bailout program.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by James Dalgleish)