Aiding carmakers not intent of bailout package: White House

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday it was not Congress' intent to use the $700 billion financial rescue package to help ailing U.S. automakers.

"That was not Congress' intent," Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush to New York. Bush was scheduled to speak about the financial markets and economy later in the day in New York City.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)