Bush says can reach deal with Congress on housing

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he believed a deal could be reached with Congress on legislation to help distressed homeowners stay in their houses.

"I think we can get us a bill, but it's going to require less politics and more focus on keeping our minds on who we need to help -- and that's the homeowner," Bush said at a roundtable on housing counseling.

A housing rescue bill stalled in the U.S. Senate last week after Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, blocked the measure, demanding he be allowed to try to attach tax breaks for renewable energy sources.

Bush has threatened to veto the Senate bill because it includes $4 billion in block grants to states that could be used to buy up foreclosed homes. The White House has argued that provision helps lenders more than borrowers.

Bush said the housing crisis and soaring fuel prices were challenges facing the U.S. economy, but ultimately the country would recover. "I'm confident in the long run America is going to be just fine," he said.

As foreclosures soar and home prices drop, Bush and lawmakers are looking for ways to shore up the housing market and prevent it from sending the U.S. economy into a recession.

In addition to beating the drum for housing reform, Bush spent a good portion of the day raising money for 2008 Republican candidates, including Sen. Roger Wicker and the Mississippi and Arkansas state Republican parties.

The Senate housing bill would create a multibillion dollar fund to help an estimated 400,000 homeowners refinance out of costly, exotic mortgages into more affordable loans backed by the government, if lenders agreed to take a loss on the loans.

The legislation would also overhaul regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies, a provision the Bush administration strongly supports.

Senate Democrats had hoped to pass the measure before their week-long recess this week around the July 4 Independence Day holiday. They plan to resume consideration of the bill next week.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto rapped lawmakers for taking another break without passing the legislation.

"Every day that we wait, the problem gets worse, more people go into foreclosure," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We could really use the extra tools and some of the extra authorities that are contained in this legislation."

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Dan Grebler)