WASHINGTON — Hawai'i's two senators called Monday for quick action on a $700 billion plan being worked on by Congress and the Bush administration to bail out the nation's financial system, but with safeguards to limit potential abuse.

"We need to ensure that whatever plan is put into place, it must have sufficient and appropriate safeguards to protect taxpayers and not just financial institutions," said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i.

But Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said he would not vote to give a blank check to the administration for the bailout.

"Any bailout proposal will have to have strong, independent oversight of the process, accountability for those who got us into this mess, safeguards for the taxpayers' interests and protection for homeowners," Abercrombie said. "While I understand what is at stake, I also understand who is being asked to foot the bill."

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said $700 billion is a "huge sum of money" but American families are hurting from the financial turmoil. The committee is holding a hearing Tuesday on the administration's proposal.

"We must step in to stabilize the markets," Akaka said. "In taking this action, we must take steps to protect taxpayers and limit the potential for abuse."

Akaka said he wanted to ensure that corporations or their executives would not take advantage of the situation, caused in part by greed.

Congress also needs to help states meet increased social service and health care costs and improve consumer protection to prevent predatory lenders from exploiting consumers, Akaka said.

"We will need a complete re-examination of our financial services oversight system in order to prevent similar collapses from happening again."

Inouye also said he was concerned about how the problems in the financial markets are hitting working families and people close to retirement.

"It would not be fair if the administration's proposed bailout only makes whole those financial institutions and executives that took unnecessary risks," Inouye said. "The plan we undertake must not only be fair, it must be transparent."

That means a bailout should include regulatory reforms and it must not be open-ended on costs since the proposed $700 billion already is "staggering," Inouye said.