WASHINGTON -- After a second vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, the $700 billion bank bailout has been signed into law by President George W. Bush. Congress loaded up the controversial bill with so-called sweeteners in order to get enough votes to pass.

Friday's House vote followed Senate passage on Wednesday. A previous House vote on Monday failed and sent stock markets into a steep slide.

Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pledged to use the government's new bailout power to stabilize faltering financial markets.

"We're going to make sure that whatever we do is done in a deliberate fashion and one that will be effective and mindful of the taxpayers," Bush said.

Along with relief, there were signs of unease. The original bailout bill was highly unpopular with the public. Even after lawmakers promised such perks as added insurance for bank accounts and help for strapped homeowners, many remained unsatisfied.

"We were dealt a bad hand," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "We made the most of it. I think the American people will benefit from it."

The bailout bill allows the government to buy up billions of dollars' worth of banks' bad loans including mortgage-backed securities. Supporters insist that the risk to taxpayers is low because the government will be able to hold those assets and sell them when markets improve.

The bill picked up 58 additional votes since Monday, passing by a comfortable margin, 262-171.

Some House members who switched their no votes to yes votes cited constituent pressure after Monday's 777-point stock market drop.

"On Monday, I voted no," said Rep. Howard Coble, of North Carolina. "The telephone calls and e-mails continued to be overwhelming, but guess what? They were in favor of the bill."

Others made it clear that switching votes was a painful choice.

"It's disgusting that we would ever be brought to this floor to have to cast this vote, but we're out of options," said Rep. Zach Wamp, of Tennessee.

House leaders vowed that the passage of the bailout bill doesn't mean they are done dealing with it. Leaders are promising long-term reforms to avert another crisis.

"We will be back next year to do some serious surgery on the financial structure," said Rep. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Banking Committee.

Even though stocks took a dive on Monday when the House first voted against this bill, they did not rally when the bill passed Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down almost 160 points.