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The US Congress has passed a bill that will allow American servicemen and their families access to cheap homeowner loans.    

The bill, which carries the acronym HEART, meaning Heroes Earning Relief and Tax Act, also contains other provisions designed to assist hard-up war veterans and their families. Among these is a plan to allow active duty reservists to tap into their retirement plans without suffering punitive financial penalty.   

It is not only the predicament of servicemen the bills authors have considered. Small business owners too, many of who find themselves short-staffed and out-of-pocket by call-ups of reservist staff, will be given tax breaks to soften the blow of losing employees to the military.   

Overall, the HEART package is believed to be worth around $2 billion, with the majority of the money being poured into the cheap homeowner loan scheme.   

It was passed unanimously by the Senate, with neither Democrat or Republican senators willing to oppose a bill which has gained widespread popular support.   

It will now be handed to President George Bush, and only requires his signature before it officially becomes legislation. It will then come into effect, not inappropriately, on Memorial Day.   

Although it has been hard to find any public opposition to the bill, some have criticised it as being “too little, too late”, as many war veterans have recently returned from service in Iraq and Afghanistan to impoverishment, post traumatic stress disorder and unemployment.