WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Thursday overwhelmingly passed a housing measure some senators say is tilted toward the industry and not the individual homeowners.

"It is not a magic bullet that will solve the problem," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said during floor debate before the bill passed 84-12. "But it is an important step. "

Reid said the housing bill would modernize the Federal Housing Administration and would raise loan limits to $550,000 and would introduce more flexibility into the lending process.

"This bill will achieve that crucial and bipartisan goal," he said.

But the bill "does nothing for the homeowner," said Sen. Jim Bunting, R-Ky.

The measure would provide billions of dollars to the home building, mortgage and real estate industries, Bunting told CNN.

He said the federal government has an obligation to help resolve the mortgage crisis because "we didn't do oversight" while the nation moved toward the housing bubble.

All Democrats and Independents present voted for the measure. Absent were presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Barak Obama, D-Ill.; and John McCain, R-Ariz.