WASHINGTON -- Two weeks after the Treasury secretary asked Congress for an unprecedented $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, he'll have his check. The House adopted the Senate's plan Friday in a 263-171 vote. The legislation was then signed into law by President Bush.

The $700 billion bailout plan passed the House with nearly two thirds vote, just two days after the legislation was adopted by the Senate. Leaders said it's now time to move forward, fixing the mistakes of the past.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "We're about the future, and that is the direction we want to take our policy. We want to take the country in a new direction for the middle class."

Representatives debated for hours on the momentous bill, with leaders urging members to go along with the plan saying with the newest revisions -- a temporary increase on the deposit insurance limit and several tax breaks -- they can be sure the needs of taxpayers are being addressed.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, "Americans are in trouble. They're expecting us to act."

House Minority Leader John Boehner said, "We know that if we do nothing, this crisis is likely to worsen and to put us into an economic slump like most of us have never seen."

Still, the majority of Republican representatives voted against the plan saying the taxpayer burden is too much, with no guarantee the financial problem will be fixed.

One congressman quoted a recent Forbes magazine article in which a Treasury spokeswoman said the $700 billion figure is "not based on any particular data point." Former presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul said the bailout is not the answer.

"By doing more mischief and not allowing markets to adjust, debt to be liquidated, you're going to guarantee a depression, it's going to be prolonged," he said.

The bill was then signed off by President Bush who thanked Congressional leaders for working on it together. As the plan moved into his hands, Bush said the bill passage represented decisive action by Washington to ease credit woes across the country.

He said, "We've shown the world that the United States of America will stabilize our financial markets and maintain a leading role in the global economy."

President Bush also tried to ease the fears of taxpayers saying the bailout will not affect them as severely as initially expected.

He said, "The government will purchase troubled assets, and once the market recovers, it is likely many of the assets will go up in value. Over time Americans should expect that much if not all will be paid back."

Congressional leaders say starting in January they will be working on serious financial reform measures.