President Bush plans to talk to Americans directly about the financial crisis in a prime-time, televised address Wednesday night.

The White House says his speech at 9:01 p.m. EDT will be between 12 and 14 minutes long and will be delivered from the State Floor of the White House residence. Press secretary Dana Perino says Bush wants to tell the American people how the crisis affects them and help them understand the depth of the problem.

This comes as the administration is waging a tough battle to sell a $700 billion rescue plan on Capitol Hill.