Senate seeks fast bailout watchdog choice

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. senators say they hope to have a strong watchdog in place quickly for the Treasury Department's $700 billion bailout program.

The Senate Banking Committee members appeared nearly unanimous in their praise of Neil Barofsky, the White House nominee to be special inspector general for the plan, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

"Clearly, we want to have you on the job as fast as we can," Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., the committee chairman, told Barofsky.

Dodd said he hoped the full Senate would vote on the confirmation by the end of the week. That's when the lame-duck session of Congress is scheduled to conclude.

Barofsky, 38, heads the mortgage fraud unit for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York's Manhattan.