Deal Reopens US Government, Extends Debt Limit
October 19, 2013
Visitors are led on an official tour, which had been suspended during the 16-day government shutdown, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 17, 2013.
From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
Late Wednesday night, the United States Congress approved a deal to end a partial government shutdown. The deal also increases the nation’s debt limit. President Obama signed the bill into law shortly after midnight. The shutdown lasted 16 days and affected hundreds of thousands of federal employees. It was the first shutdown in 17 years.
However, the deal to reopen the government will only pay for operations through January 15. And it only extends the debt limit until February 7. Extending the debt limit will let the government borrow enough money to pay for programs already approved by Congress.
The Treasury Department said the limit needed to rise by October 17 so that the United States could borrow enough money to pay all its bills.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced the results of the vote in the House of Representatives.
“On this vote the yeas are 285, the nays are 144, the motion is adopted.”
The pressure had been on House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in the day, Mr. Boehner talked about what Republicans had been seeking. He spoke to radio station WLW in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
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