WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Plans for energy-efficient cars, fewer showrooms and shared sacrifice were aired Thursday by the three U.S. automakers seeking emergency funding from Congress.

Chief executives told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that they needed bridge financing to help them whether tough financial times brought on by the swooning U.S. economy, telling the panel that they would agree to be subject to a decision-making, pro-active, government-appointed board that the Government Accounting Office recommended.

All three auto executives pledged to cut costs and share concessions across all constituencies, as well as explain that they needed a bridge loan now to avoid potential collapse.

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger urged the senators to pass a bridge loan that includes strict accountability and the automakers' restructuring plans.

Senators also heard about what would happen if any of the three automakers fail.

"This is not a bailout," said James Fleming, president of the Connecticut Automobile Retailers Association. "This is an investment in the future of small towns and small businesses."

"Should one of the Detroit Three fail ... there will be an implosion," said Keith Wandell, president and chief operating officer of Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), which provide components to automaker and aftermarket industries.

Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody's Economy.com, said the government should provide financial aid to the automakers because

The roughly $34 billion the automakers are seeking in bridge loans would not be sufficient to avoid bankruptcy, Zandi said, estimating the figure would be closer to between $75 billion and $125 billion.

Zandi urged lawmakers to provide the a bailout in two stages. The first distribution would be sufficient for the companies to "comfortably avoid bankruptcy" and the second dispersal should occur only if automakers meet benchmarks.

Bernanke calls for more homeowner help

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the government should increase its efforts to stem the sharp rate of U.S. foreclosures.

"Despite good-faith efforts by both the private and public sectors, the foreclosure rate remains too high," Bernanke said Thursday in a prepared speech at the Federal Reserve System Conference on Housing and Mortgage Markets in Washington.

Bernanke said 2.25 million U.S. homes could end up in foreclosure in 2008, "up from an average pace of less than 1 million homes during the pre-crisis period."

"As house prices have declined, many borrowers now find themselves 'under water' on their mortgages -- perhaps as many as 15 to 20 percent by some estimates," Bernanke said.

Bernanke outlined several alternatives for dealing with the issue, including the reduction of mandatory insurance costs and granting the Federal Housing Administration permission to "to tailor these premiums to individual risk characteristics."

The government could also share costs with lenders who reduce borrowers' monthly payments, he said.

After a lender took steps to reduce monthly payments to 38 percent of income, "the government could bear a portion of the incremental cost of reducing the mortgage payments beyond 38 percent, say to 31 percent, of income," he said.

Israel said to be studying Iran attack

JERUSALEM, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Israel is reported to be looking over possible options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities without U.S. involvement, the Jerusalem Post says.

While preferring U.S. coordination, Israeli defense forces say they are looking over the possibility of going on such a mission without it, reports said.

"It is always better to coordinate. But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination," a Defense Ministry official said last week," the Post reported.

Several news reports said that U.S. President George Bush refused to give Israel a green light for an Iranian attack. the Post said.

One report, published in September in Britain's Guardian newspaper, said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert requested a go-ahead to attack Iran in May but Bush refused.

The Post reported that Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike without getting codes from the U.S. forces, who control Iraqi airspace. The United States refused a request for the codes in 1991 during the first Gulf war.

European Court targets database samples

LONDON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The European Court of Human Rights says fingerprint and DNA samples obtained from individuals who were never convicted should be removed from databases.

The court ruled Thursday that samples from suspects acquitted of charges should be removed from national databases used by British police because they violate an individual's right to privacy, The Times of London said.

Samples from individuals who have charges against them dropped should also be removed, the court said in its landmark judgment.

British DNA databases contain 5.1 million samples and an estimated 800,000 are from individuals never convicted of any crime.

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said ministers would consider the judgment, but all samples would remain intact until they reach a decision on the matter, The Guardian said.

"DNA and fingerprinting is vital to the fight against crime, providing the police with more than 3,500 matches a month, and I am disappointed by the European Court of Human Rights' decision," Smith said.

The Daily Telegraph said Scotland already employs a DNA sample destruction system, which is used when an individual is not formally charged or is acquitted.

Queen's rep suspends Canadian Parliament

OTTAWA, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The British queen's representative in Canada agreed Thursday to suspend the country's Parliament in Ottawa in the midst of an opposition revolt.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper met for more than two hours with Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean at her official residence to seek a prorogue, or suspension, of Parliament until Jan. 26, when a new budget will be announced.

Liberal opposition leader Stephane Dion sent a letter to Jean Wednesday asking that she deny the request and allow a coalition government of Liberals, socialist New Democratic Party members and separatist Bloc Quebecois to govern.

In a 5-minute nationally televised address Wednesday night, Harper took swipes at the Bloc Quebecois element of the coalition.

"The opposition is attempting to impose this deal without your say, without your consent and without your vote," Harper said. "This is no time for backroom deals with the separatists."

The Conservatives won a minority government seven weeks ago.

The political battle began Friday when the Conservatives' interim economic forecast was criticized for being too vague in light of the global financial meltdown. It also included cutting federal campaign subsidies and banning civil service strikes, both of which have been retracted.