Two of Utah's three House members voted against the proposed $700 billion bailout of financial institutions on Monday.

Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Rob Bishop, R-Utah, voted against it — and were cheered on by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

But Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, voted for the bailout. And Sen. Bob Bennett, who was one of the chief negotiators who helped draft it, called for Congress to rework the bailout now and develop something that can pass because "the crisis remains."

Matheson and Bishop both face re-election in November and have reported that their offices received thou- sands of calls from Utahns, almost all of whom angrily opposed the bailout. Cannon was defeated last May in a primary, so he does not face re-election now.

Matheson explained his vote, saying "Utahns are outraged that even as they try to cope with a weakening economy, Congress wants them to come to the rescue of big banks who contributed to this financial mess."

He added, "I don't agree with government being in the business of bailing out private companies that make bad business decisions. I'm uncomfortable with granting one individual so much power to distribute taxpayer funds."

Matheson concluded, "While the current financial crisis is unsettling, I believe more thoughtful attempts are needed — including necessary reforms — to calm the volatility in the markets."

Bishop said: "We are in a tough financial spot, and things could get worse fast, but Congress is acting too quickly based on what you've really got to admit is an artificial deadline. We should be focused on acting correctly rather than just quickly.

"The first proposal that (President) Bush and (Treasury Secretary Henry) Paulson sent up was totally unacceptable," Bishop added. "The apparent 'deal' with the Democrats short after that was even worse." He said the latest proposal was better, "but there are still a couple of major problems."

For example, he complained that proposals to back debt through insurance premiums paid by Wall Street was optional and not mandatory and complained that the $700 billion for the bailout was not reduced but "just spread out over a couple stages."

"We could have and should have started with a smaller authorized amount and then forced Congress to take another look down the road," Bishop said.

While the Senate did not vote on the bailout, Hatch praised those who helped kill it in the House. "It's clear the proposal put before the House did not meet the criteria demanded by the American people — which is to protect taxpayers. Most Utahns agree we need to deal with the ominous storm forming over our economy without flooding the taxpayer with bad debt."