U.S. panel examines Countrywide loans

By John Poirier

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Congressional ethics panel is examining allegations that two Senate Democrats, including the sponsor of a major housing bill, received preferential loans by troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp, a member of Congress said on Thursday.

"My view is that these allegations should be considered by the appropriate bodies, and I understand that the Senate Ethics Committee has already begun to look into the matter," Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement.

Frank is chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota have acknowledged that they refinanced properties as members of Countrywide's VIP program.

Dodd, chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, is leading an effort this week to win Senate approval of a $300 billion (152.2 billion pound) housing rescue bill to help thousands of American homeowners facing foreclosure on their home loans.

Frank has been working with Dodd to push a housing rescue bill through Congress and send it to President George W. Bush by July 4 to be signed into law.

But the White House on Thursday threatened to veto the Senate bill, which some Republican senators questioned if it could benefit Countrywide.

House Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, on Thursday said that the House Financial Services Committee was the "most logical" entity to examine the loans.