The House approved the new bill by votes of 391-28. "This is a tough bill that cracks down on the corporate crooks," Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in floor debate.

The new House bill was said to be even tougher in a sense than the freshly-passed Senate bill as the House bill would bring about criminal penalties for company officials who retaliate against whistle-blowers, while the Senate measure provided only civil penalties.

The Repubilican-led House passed a bill on the same issue in April, which did not include the measure of criminal penalties. The April House bill has been widely criticized as too timid to do the job of overseeing the accounting industry, which gave the Senate a boost to pass a tougher bill, some analysts say.

The timing of the new House bill, however, has given Democrats clues to criticize Republican leaders. Democrats accused Republican leaders of reversing themselves only because Americans' confidence in business and the markets has become badly shaken and the issue of corporate accountability is resonating in this congressional election year.

President George W. Bush said in a public speech that he hopes the two organs of the Congress can get together and produce a bill quick enough for him to sign before the August recess.