WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for "emergency and limited financial assistance" for the battered auto industry and urged the outgoing Bush administration to join lawmakers in reaching a quick compromise.

Four days after dismal financial reports from General Motors and Ford, Pelosi backed legislation Tuesday to make the automakers eligible for help under the $700 billion bailout measure that cleared Congress in October.

In a written statement, the California Democrat said the aid was needed "in order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers, which would have a devastating impact on our economy, particularly on the men and women who work in that industry."

"Congress and the Bush administration must take immediate action," she added. Administration officials have concluded that the bailout bill that passed earlier does not permit loans to the auto industry, but lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol for a brief postelection session beginning next week.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also supports help for the industry, and he issued a statement saying Democrats were "determined to pass legislation that will save the jobs of millions" as part of a postelection session.

"This will only get done if President Bush and Senate Republicans work with us in a bipartisan fashion, and I am confident they will do what is right for our economy," he said.

The plight of the industry has drawn attention from the White House and the incoming Obama administration in recent days, as well as among lawmakers.

Last week, President-elect Obama prodded the Bush administration to do more to help the industry, and on Monday, aides said he raised the issue with President Bush in an Oval Office conversation. Officials familiar with the conversation said the president replied he was open to the idea.

Before adjourning for the elections last week, Congress passed legislation providing for $25 billion in government-backed loans to the automakers to prod them to retool their factories to make more efficient vehicles.

Since then, executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler and officials in the United Autoworkers union have called for more than that to avert a possible collapse of one of the nation's most basic industries, including a $25 billion loan to help keep the companies afloat and $25 billion more to help cover future health care payments for about 780,000 retirees and their dependents.

Pelosi's statement didn't specify how large an aid package she prefers.

A companion effort is under way in the Senate.

The Senate is scheduled to meet next week in a postelection session, but until Pelosi issued her statement, it was not clear the House would follow suit.

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