U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday signed a historic financial bailout plan into law, which authorizes the government the largest financial intervention since the Great Depression.

The president signed the measure at his desk in the White House after returning from the nearby Treasury Department where he thanked employees for their hard work on the rescue package, U.S. media reported.

The 700 billion dollars bailout package was passed by a vote of 263-171, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than the measure garnered in Monday's stunning defeat.

Monday's vote sent markets plunging around the globe and forced the Bush Administration and congressional leadership to scramble and salvage the rescue plan. The Senate passed the new version Wednesday on a bipartisan vote of 74-25.

Earlier Friday, Bush praised the Congress's efforts, saying the passage represented "decisive action to ease the credit crunch that is now threatening our economy."

"We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming -- from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," said the president. "We have shown the world that the United States of America will stabilize our financial markets and maintain a leading role in the global economy."

(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2008)