Updated: Thu, Oct 11 5:31 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Roughly $24 million in assets, including some belonging to Osama bin Laden, has been frozen by the United States and other countries since last month's terror attacks, the Bush administration announced Thursday.

Under White House prodding, a House panel on Thursday approved legislation to further expand the government's ability to cut money flows to terrorist networks. A parallel bill is part of President Bush's sweeping anti-terrorism package in the Senate.

The 62-1 vote by the House Financial Services Committee sent the measure to the full House. The lone dissenting vote came from Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a fierce libertarian.

The United States has been working closely with other nations to choke the flow of money flowing to terrorist networks, something President Bush has said goes to the heart of the country's anti-terrorism campaign.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gave Bush a progress report on the effort during a cabinet meeting.

Afterward, the Treasury Department said that of the $24 million frozen since the attacks, nearly $4 million was blocked by the United States. The rest was frozen by other countries.

All of the frozen assets were connected to either Saudi exile bin Laden, his al-Qaida network or the Taliban, a Treasury official said, speaking on condition of anonomity.

The U.S. government considers bin Laden, estimated to have a personal fortune of around $300 million, to be the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Besides the nearly $4 million frozen in the United States, several million in additional assets are under review to be possibly blocked, the Treasury said.

The world's major industrial powers pledged last Saturday to intensify efforts to cut terrorists off from their funding.

The Group of Seven nations - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada - said they were encouraged by the number of other countries that have agreed to join in the effort to freeze terrorist assets.

Treasury said Thursday that 102 countries have committed to joining the effort to disrupt terrorist assets and 62 countries already have put blocking orders in force.

The Financial Action Task Force, a group of nations focused on money laundering, will hold a special meeting in Washington on Oct. 29 and 30 to develop new policies to combat terrorist financing.

The blocking of assets in the United States follows up on a Sept. 24 order by Bush authorizing a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations suspected of conducting or financing terrorist activities. The list included 12 individuals counting bin Laden; 11 organizations, including the al-Qaida network; three charities; and one business.

The Bush administration is set to release a second list, possibly containing around two dozen more names, of targeted entities, officials speaking on condition of anonymity said.

One of the big challenges is tracking money that moves through an underground banking system in the Middle East and parts of Asia, where large amounts of cash change hands in a paperless network based on personal trust.

In a related development, the Bush administration said Thursday that Saudi Arabia is taking steps to freeze the assets of the al-Qaida network and is cooperating fully with the United States in countering terrorism.

Saudi Arabia has not yet frozen the group's assets but is taking steps toward a freeze and is making good progress, according to a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

O'Neill said of Saudi Arabia: They along with everyone else have been as cooperative as could be.