U.S. debt crisis averted, but economy still suffers (PHOTOS)
U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Budget Control Act of 2011, approved by the Senate Tuesday, by a vote of 74-26 to raise the debt ceiling, allowing the U.S. to avoid default on its debts, and reduce the deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years.
U.S. President Barack Obama signed a compromise debt-ceiling deal into law Tuesday afternoon in a closed-door ceremony at the White House, calling the legislation "an important first step for ensuring that as a nation we don't live beyond our means."
The emergency plan to allow the U.S. government to borrow more money passed the Senate on Tuesday, just hours before the deadline to raise the federal debt ceiling and avert a potentially disastrous government default expired.
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Obama, speaking to reporters after the Senate vote, said the bill was the outcome of a "long and contentious debate" to avoid an economic disaster that created "unsettling" economic uncertainty, CBS News reports. Votes chose a divided government, but "they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government," he added.
"It shouldn't take the risk of default, the risk of economic catastrophe, to get folks in this town to get together and do their jobs," Obama said. "Our economy didn't need Washington to come along with a manufactured crisis to make things worse."
The debt-ceiling legislation, which easily passed the House on Monday, 269 votes to 161, was approved in the Senate by 74 votes to 26. The bill required 60 votes to pass.
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