WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson yesterday unveiled the administration's broadest proposals to date for cleaning up mortgage and securities markets, including tough licensing of mortgage brokers.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, top Democrats unveiled sweeping legislation to aid consumers in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Paulson laid out proposals pulled together by a special presidential panel that was created after the 1987 stock market plunge.

The newly announced plan is designed to prevent a rerun of the current financial crisis, where lax standards in mortgage lending have sparked widespread problems among borrowers, lenders and investors that dealt in mortgage-backed securities and an array of other complex investment products.

"The objective here is to get the balance right — regulation needs to catch up with innovation and restore investor confidence but not go so far as to create new problems," Paulson said.

The proposal calls for state regulators to set strong, national standards for mortgage brokers, while federal and state officials work to toughen oversight.

Brokers, who now are regulated by a combination of state and federal laws, are involved in a high proportion of real estate transactions.

Brokers draw on a variety of potential lending sources for home buyers, and some have drawn criticism for putting consumers into loans during the recent housing boom that had slim chances of timely repayment.

Paulson called for more stringent review by agencies that rate the soundness of bonds and other financial products. Credit-rating agencies have been criticized for understating the risks of mortgage-backed securities now going sour at an alarming rate.

Paulson also called for more intensive analysis by investment firms that issue mortgage-backed securities, and enhanced risk management by lenders.

On Capitol Hill, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., laid out proposals to allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure refinanced mortgages, after the value of the loans had been written down by mortgage holders and lenders.

Frank said his plan, including $300 billion in loan guarantees, could reach 1 million to 2 million loans.

"No one knows where the bottom is" in this housing and credit crunch, Dodd said. "What we're trying to do is here is create a floor."