WASHINGTON – The financial rescue legislation was aimed at stabilizing the market, not jump starting the economy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told lawmakers today.

"It is not a panacea for all our economic difficulties. The crisis in our financial system had already spilled over into our economy and hurt it. It will take a while to get lending going and repair our financial system, which is essential to an economic recovery," he told the House Financial Services Committee. "This won't happen as fast as any of us would like, but it will happen much, much faster than it would have had we not used the TARP to stabilize our system."

Paulson also said that while the administration is "working actively" to reduce preventable foreclosures, it believes the best way to improve the housing market is increase access to lower cost mortgage lending. That is why they worked to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and infused capital into banks by purchasing preferred shares.