Legislation that would subject Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to a new regulator with powers to shut down their operations in the event of default may gain the approval of a House committee by the end of April, Rep. Michael Oxley, a Republican of Ohio, said.

Mr. Oxley, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said yesterday the introduction of the bill to establish an overseer for the government-sponsored enterprises would be delayed until next month when Congress returns from recess. Similar measures have been opposed by Democratic lawmakers since 2003.

“We need a strong effective regulator for the GSEs,” Mr. Oxley, told a conference of community bankers in Washington. “We don’t want to do anything precipitous that might harm the growing housing market.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee almost half the $7.6 trillion mortgage market, disclosed billions of dollars in accounting errors since 2003.

Fannie Mae is the second-largest debtor in America after the Treasury, with $957 billion as of November 30.

Mr. Oxley said he hoped the bill, to be introduced by Rep. Richard Baker said the bill, will be passed out of the House committee “sometime in late spring.”

“There’s no hard and fast timetable; we’re not in a race with the Senate,” Mr. Oxley said. “I’m very hopeful and expectant to have a big bipartisan vote on this coming out of the committee.”