The US Senate approved the 2nd draft of the $700bn bailout plan of the financial industry late on Wednesday. The vote was 74 for theplan and 25 against it.
The bill is aimed at reinvigorating worldwide credit markets and interbank lending which had stalled.
Fears had emerged that failure to pass such a rescue plan could plunge the US and possibly also the global financial system into total turmoil.
This latest draft will now go to the House of Representatives, where a vote will probably be made on Friday.
US President George W Bush praised Senate passage of the package and urged the House to quickly do the same.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, whose original three-page proposal grew to hundreds of pages when Congress got involved, praised the Senate vote and urged the House to act swiftly to ratify it.
Should the House uphold the bill, it would go to the White House for signature into law by President Bush within a couple of days.
