President George W. Bush will welcome British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Washington for talks Friday on the U.S. financial crisis and other international situations, the White House said Thursday. “The prime minister and the president will discus the global economy, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, and other strategic issues of shared concern,” spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. Brown was in New York City for the annual U.N. General Assembly and other meetings this week and told reporters Thursday that the fate of a huge rescue plan for the U.S. financial industry being negotiated in Washington had global implications. “While the problem comes out of America, it has consequences for all of us,” Brown said. “I think the rescue plan for the United States is an essential element now for the United States to build confidence in its economic system.” “All the international leaders I was talking with last night also believe now that this plan has got to go through, and I think it will over the next few days,” Brown said, adding that the plan proposed by Bush “should be backed up by measures that we in the international community take.” Among the measures Brown said he had discussed with other leaders were international regulations covering firms that operate across borders. “You need a college of supervisors from different countries” to provide an early warning system and greater coordination when problems appear, he said. “I hope to be able to talk to President Bush about some of these things tomorrow.” After Brown's comments, lawmakers in Washington announced they had agreed in principle on the broad outlines of a $700 billion rescue plan. Bush was scheduled to meet with congressional leaders and the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates later Thursday in an effort to finalize the deal.
