WASHINGTON -- The Senate yesterday voted 74-25 to approve landmark changes in bankruptcy laws that will make it more difficult for many Americans to walk away from their debts but still shelter significant assets for the wealthy.

House Republican leaders said they would act swiftly to act on a House version, and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said there was "no doubt" that his chamber would pass it.

The White House said President Bush hopes within a few weeks to be able to sign the bill, which embodies changes that have been debated for eight years.

The final vote, which was not as close as were earlier votes on many Democratic amendments, also was a coup for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who is considering a possible bid for the presidency in 2008.

Democrats attempted to moderate the impact of the bill. For example, they sought to deny multimillionaires filing for bankruptcy in states such as Florida and Texas the right to keep large estates where they have lived for more than 40 months. Most homeowners with homes worth more than $125,000 will have to sell them to repay their debts. Also, debtors filing bankruptcy will be able to shelter as much as $1 million in retirement benefits.

Senate passage of the controversial bill was the president's second major legislative victory in recent weeks. He recently signed into law a provision that makes it more difficult for consumers to file class-action lawsuits.

The 500-page bankruptcy bill, when enacted, will deny many debtors the right to file Chapter 7 bankruptcies, the preferred form because it lets them erase most or, in some cases, all of their debts, so they can start over with a "clean financial slate."

Instead of letting bankruptcy judges decide who may file under Chapter 7, the new law imposes a strict "means test" that will deny that bankruptcy avenue to millions of people. The means test will be based on median income, which is different in each state every year.

In 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau reports, the median income ranged from $46,169 for a family of four in West Virginia to $87,412 for a similar family in New Jersey.

Under the new law, many of those lower- and middle-income families will have to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 13, which means they will need to repay most of their debts within a three-to-five-year period set by a judge. Under the new law, if a person filing bankruptcy has even $100 a month more living expenses than allowed by the Internal Revenue Service, that person must file Chapter 13 and repay his debts -- including taxes, alimony, medical bills, child support and student loans, as well as credit-card debt and recent personal loans of more than $500.

The problem for many credit-card debtors is that late fees, rising interest rates and penalties keep adding to their overall debt, so that they can never pay off what they owe. It is not unusual for credit-card debt of $50,000 to escalate to $100,000 in a few years, even when the consumer spends no more and makes regular payments.

Efforts by some Democrats to put a cap on such fees failed.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the bill's floor manager, conceded that many Democrats don't like the changes, and that nearly all of their 125 amendments to temper the bill were beaten back.

In 2000, then-President Bill Clinton refused to sign basically the same bill, calling it unfair to consumers and saying it usurped the authority of judges. That measure died before Congress could override his veto.

Besides raising fees for filing for bankruptcy, the bill also directs such consumers to pay for credit counseling. Some Democrats complained that placed another unfair burden on the financially vulnerable. They also said the bill fails to discourage credit-card firms from enticing impecunious young people to acquire multiple cards.

Among regional senators, yesterday's bill was supported by Pennsylvania Republicans Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, Ohio Republicans Mike DeWine and George Voinovich and West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd. Ohio Democrat Jay Rockefeller opposed it.