Continuing her call for more aggressive government action on mortgage foreclosures, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton today proposed the creation of a panel of finance market veterans to bring a more immediate focus on the crisis and to set up a $30 billion fund to help local governments deal with its worst effects.

In a speech at the University of Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential candidate proposed a series of steps to serve as bulwarks against a worsening economy.

She offered her support for legislation crafted by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., that would expand Federal Housing Administration's ability to facilitate the resale of mortgages bundled into investment securities.

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The New York senator also called for the immediate convening of a panel of recognized financial experts such as Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, Ben Bernanke's predecessors as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, to recommend more immediate measures to calm the shaken credit markets.

Mrs. Clinton called for a change in laws to eliminate legal impediments to lenders working with mortgage borrowers on restructuring their obligations. Finally, she urged Congress and the administration to add $30 billion to their previously enacted economic stimulus package to aid state and local governments in fighting foreclosures.

"If the Fed can extend $30 billion to help Bear Stearns address their financial crisis, the federal government should provide at least that much emergency assistance to help families and communities address theirs," she said.

Mrs. Clinton, speaking in West Philadelphia, a community with one of the highest concentrations of minority residents in the state, noted that the subprime crisis has been particularly tough on minorities.

"Communities of color have been especially hard hit," she said.

"Subprime loans are five times more common in predominantly African American neighborhoods than predominantly white ones. And 41% of loans to Hispanics are subprime compared to only 22% to whites."

She used the economic issues as one more argument for her core campaign premise -- that her experience makes her uniquely qualified to be president.

"Ultimately the true currency of today's American economy is confidence. When people lose confidence in the economy and our president's ability to manage it, problems become crises and crises lead to more crises," she said during a 40 minute speech. "So we need a president who can restore our confidence. … We need a president who is ready on day one to be commander-in-chief of our economy."

Mrs. Clinton has previously called for a temporary halt to mortgage foreclosures and as well as a freeze on the resetting of interest rates poised to move upward on thousands of adjustable rate mortgages.

Her Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama has also argued for the adoption of the Dodd-Franks legislation designed to make it easier to auction off troubled mortgage securities. Mrs. Clinton said yesterday that the government should be willing to go even further by authorizing the FHA to become a temporary buyer of mortgages until troubled markets begin to function more normally.

"Just as it has in the past, this kind of temporary measure by the government could give our economy the boost it needs and families the help they certainly need. It would not require a single new federal bureaucracy, it would be designed to be self-financing over time -- so it would cost taxpayers nothing in the long run," she said.

Anticipating the Clinton speech, David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, hosted a conference call in which he discounted the New York senator's remarks even before she delivered them.

Mr. Plouffe argued that Mrs. Clinton is a flawed messenger for financial reform because she has accepted campaign contributions from political action committees and lobbyists for the finance industry. In a subsequent statement, the Obama campaign also maintained that the Illinois senator had made a similar proposal to address the mortgage issue with a panel of senior market gurus in a letter to the Bush administration last year.

Mrs. Clinton's Philadelphia speech opened a day of campaigning across the state in anticipation of its April 22 primary. The candidate traveled from West Philadelphia to Blue Bell, in nearby Montgomery County before heading to an evening appearance in Uniontown, Fayette County.

Mr. Obama was off the campaign trail, reportedly vacationing in the Virgin Islands before heading back to the trail later in the week.

In Blue Bell, Mrs. Clinton took her battle to one of the wealthiest areas of the state and of the nation. Still, her speech this afternoon at Montgomery County Community College was aimed at the underpaid and the underinsured.

Mrs. Clinton promised to work for universal health care, equal pay for both genders, renewable energy, a better infrastructure, more funding for pre-school education and an end to the Iraq war.

"There is so much for us to do and we have to begin acting like Americans again," she said. "We have to restore American leadership."

Her 50-minute talk hit the right notes for Jeannette Maitin, 80, of Montgomery County. Education, the economy, health care and ending the war are the top issues for her, and, polls show, also the most important issues for women voters nationwide.

"Hillary does what she says she's going to do, she's an activist, she's bright and she's a woman," Ms. Maitin said from the audience.

She was one of several hundred people, mostly middle-aged white women, who attended the "Pennsylvania Women for Hillary" rally.

Others in the audience pressed Mrs. Clinton, during a question-and-answer session, on the use of ethanol to fuel cars, equality for gays and lesbians and access to health care.

Mrs. Clinton responded:

• Corn-based ethanol isn't as efficient as it needs to be, and its production has caused the price of food to rise because farmers are dedicating fields to crops for alternative fuel. More research is needed into other sources of ethanol.

• The military's don't-ask-don't-tell policy isn't working. Troops with specialized skills are being discharged because of sexual orientation.

• Her administration would provide the option for all Americans to be covered under the same health insurance plan as members of Congress. "This is not socialized medicine. You get to pick the policy that you need," she said.