in spite of that good news, the chairman me clear the housing market remains in dire straits. Reporter: yeah, katie. With so many homes like this one falling in value, bnanke on capitol hill today called on congress to take prompt actions on the housing smulu bill. On a vacant lot in north urge New Jersey, dean mon is breaking ground for a 70-unit housing complex. Are you worried you'll find buy yourself? of course, we're always worried. Reporter: that's w builders like mon are begging Washington to pass the housing bill. We need congress's help. I to stimulate sales it would provide a tax credit of up to $8 and allow the government to insure $300 billion in new mortgages to help 400,000 strapped homeowners. If congress doesn't help out, what happens? we're just going to drag this out and I think we see bleak couple yrs ahead of us. Reporter: the white house argues parts of the bill would bail out bad lenders who caused the mortgage mess. But many economists now back the stimulus plan. When you have the economy this weak and you have confidence this battered, there may be some type of federal legislation that isn't such a bad idea at this particular time. Reporter: congressional leaders are hopi to get a compromise bill that would clude the fannie mae freddie mac rescue package on to the president's desk perhaps as early as next week. Katie? couric: anthony, we're hearing there's talk of issuing another round of rebate checks to stimulate the economy.
