WASHINGTON – Late Monday night, in an effort to avert financial catastrophe for the U.S., an ideologically divided House of Representatives approved legislation to raise the debt ceiling. In a vote of 269 to 161, the bill will cut spending by $1 trillion over the next 10 years and raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion. Over the weekend, the bill was negotiated by President Barack Obama, Democrat and Republican leaders, namely House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) made a special appearance to the floor of Congress to vote yes on the bill. Giffords suffered a shot to the head during a shooting rampage by Jared Lee Loughner in January and continues to recuperate.
