Congress Will Vote on Extension of Debt Ceiling Ending The Crisis For 3 Months
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 15, 2013.
CAPITOL HILL — Republican House Speaker John Boehner says the House of Representatives will likely vote tonight, if the Senate passes a bill to reopen the government and extend the U.S. credit limit past a deadline just hours away. After going to the brink of a possible default, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are now expressing optimism that a bill will pass in both chambers late Wednesday - just in time for the country to be able to borrow money to pay its bills.
After leaders in the U.S. Senate announced a bipartisan agreement to end the two simultaneous budget crises, Republican House members met just hours before a deadline set by the U.S. Treasury for the debt ceiling to be raised to guarantee solvency. After the short meeting, House Speaker John Boehner did not come to the microphones, but he did speak to the “Bill Cunningham Radio Show” at his home station, WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“We have been locked in a fight over here, trying to bring government down to size, trying to do our best to stop Obamacare, we fought the good fight, we just did not win," said Boehner.
House Republicans triggered a partial government shutdown on October 1 when they linked passage of a bill to fund the government to provisions to derail President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. With that crisis unresolved, Congress also approached the brink of a possible default on the nation’s debt. In the radio interview, Boehner encouraged members of his Republican caucus to vote for the Senate bill, if it passes and is sent over to the House, and said he believes large parts of the U.S government will reopen on Thursday.
House Democrats expressed relief, and said the whole drama was unnecessary and unfortunate. Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel said he hoped there would be no lasting damage to the U.S. standing in the world.
“We walked right up to the precipice, we did not jump over. I think if we had jumped over, God forbid, it would have had lasting damage. So I think that this is repairable," said Engel.
The Senate bill extends the debt ceiling until February and funds the government until January, and calls for extensive budget talks between now and then on government spending priorities.
After leaders in the U.S. Senate announced a bipartisan agreement to end the two simultaneous budget crises, Republican House members met just hours before a deadline set by the U.S. Treasury for the debt ceiling to be raised to guarantee solvency. After the short meeting, House Speaker John Boehner did not come to the microphones, but he did speak to the “Bill Cunningham Radio Show” at his home station, WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“We have been locked in a fight over here, trying to bring government down to size, trying to do our best to stop Obamacare, we fought the good fight, we just did not win," said Boehner.
House Republicans triggered a partial government shutdown on October 1 when they linked passage of a bill to fund the government to provisions to derail President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. With that crisis unresolved, Congress also approached the brink of a possible default on the nation’s debt. In the radio interview, Boehner encouraged members of his Republican caucus to vote for the Senate bill, if it passes and is sent over to the House, and said he believes large parts of the U.S government will reopen on Thursday.
House Democrats expressed relief, and said the whole drama was unnecessary and unfortunate. Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel said he hoped there would be no lasting damage to the U.S. standing in the world.
“We walked right up to the precipice, we did not jump over. I think if we had jumped over, God forbid, it would have had lasting damage. So I think that this is repairable," said Engel.
The Senate bill extends the debt ceiling until February and funds the government until January, and calls for extensive budget talks between now and then on government spending priorities.
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