U.S. Treasury prices rose Tuesday as details of the proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry are being discussed.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared before Congress to urge swift action on the proposal, which would use tax dollars to purchase mortgage securities from Wall Street firms.

Paulson told the Senate Banking committee that passage of the bailout was important "to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures and broken credit markets that threaten American families' financial well-being, the viability of businesses both small and large, and the very health of our economy."

While most lawmakers agree that something needs to be done to ward off more damage to the financial system, some Democratic members of Congress have expressed concerns about the proposal in its current form.

The 2-year bond added 1/32 to 100 15/32 with a yield of 2.12%, down from 2.20% in the previous session. The 30-year long bond gained 1/32 to 101 8/32 and its yield slipped to 4.42% from 4.45%.

The yield on the 3-month note is often viewed as a safer short-term bond investment, but it was down to 0.86% from 0.94% Monday.

Investors couldn't get enough short-term bonds last week, sending the yield on the 3-month bond to a 68-year low on Wall Street.