Congress pass bill, Obama signs it
Washington: US Congress passed a bipartisan bill which was quickly signed into law by President Barack Obama on Thursday to end a 16-day government shutdown and avert a historic debt default by the world’s largest economy that could have global repercussions.
“The effective time for the continuing resolution begins on October 1, 2013,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, adding that the law also extends the nation’s debt limit through February 7, 2014.
Conceding defeat Republican House Speaker John Boehner said, “We fought the good fight; we just didn’t win.”
Though the passage of the legislation ends global anxiety as the default would have had cascading impact on the world economy, the bipartisan deal reached by the Republicans and the Democrats with the support of the White House buys time only for a few months, before which they need to renegotiate the issue and find a lasting solution to their differences.
Soon after Obama signed the bill, the White House Office of Management of Budget issued a notice to federal agencies asking nearly eight lakh furloughed employees to resume their duties on Thursday.
