WASHINGTON, October 17 (RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama signed early Thursday last-ditch legislation to fund the government and avert a debt default, easing an acute political crisis and narrowly avoiding an unprecedented fiscal clash that might seriously have damaged the world economy.
With the United States just hours away from what would have been its first ever default on its debt, Senate leaders reached a bipartisan deal Wednesday to re-open the US government after a 16-day shutdown and temporarily raise borrowing limits to pull the country back from the brink of fiscal disaster.
The deal, which was crafted by a bipartisan group of Senators and tweaked by Senate leaders, proposes funding the government until Jan. 15 and raising the United States’ debt ceiling until Feb. 7, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
The temporary fix would give US lawmakers breathing space to “work toward a long-term budget agreement that prevents these frequent crises,” Reid said.
The United States would have reached its borrowing limit at midnight Wednesday, after which, if there was no agreement, the country would have defaulted on its debt for the first time ever.
Both the House and Senate approved the plan Wednesday night.
Obama earlier vowed to sign the legislation "immediately" to avoid further damage to US economy, which has lost some $24 billion due to the political crisis since October 1, according to estimates by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
"We can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people," he said.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who backed the Senate bill, earlier took a dig at Obama’s signature health care reform bill, which some Republicans wanted to strip of funding as a condition for agreeing to keep the government open.
“Republicans remain determined to repeal this terrible law,” McConnell said, “But for today – for today – the relief we hope for is to reopen the government, avoid default, and protect the historic cuts we achieved” that have reined in government spending and slashed the ballooning US deficit without raising taxes.
Republican Senator John McCain called the Senate breakthrough “the end of an agonizing odyssey” for lawmakers and for the American people.
Tea Party-backed Senator Ted Cruz, who has been vehemently opposed to funding the US government unless Obama’s Affordable Care Act is defunded, said Wednesday he would not block the passage of the compromise bill reached in the Senate, even though it concedes very little to the Republicans, other than allowing income checks for people who seek a government subsidy to pay for health care.
Some lawmakers in the House took to Twitter to praise the compromise bill and call for the country to get back to work.
Compromise is not treason. We must reopen the govt, avoid default & deliver good governance worthy of America http://t.co/yFbwOxNX3q #NY22 — Rep. Richard Hanna (@RepRichardHanna) October 16, 2013
Looks like we may #JustVote to open govt & pay our bills, ending this mindless episode. Time to move past the scare and do a real #budget. — Rep. Scott Peters (@RepScottPeters) October 16, 2013
Rewrites throughout with updates on voting by US Congress, Obama signing the bill, S&P estimates
