Congress Passes Bill to Avoid Default, End Shutdown

The Senate and the House voted late Wednesday to pass a bill that would fully reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling afteran 11th-hour agreement reached earlier in the day by Senate majority leader Harry Reid and minority leader Mitch McConnell.

The Senate voted 81-18 in favor of the measure, while the House voted 285-144 in favor.The votes in the House set the stage to end the 16-day federal shutdown, just a few hours shy of a national default.

Speaker of the HouseHouse John Boehner said his conferences strategy to demand concessions in exchange for reopening the government had failed.

Blocking the bipartisan agreement reached today by the members of the Senate will not be a tactic for us, he said in a statement.

President Barack Obama said he would sign the agreement immediately and also said he hoped lawmakers would learn from the government shutdown.

Im eager to work with anybody, Democrat or Republican, Obama said. "Ive never believed Democrats have a monopoly on good ideas.

The agreement will fund the federal government in place of an annual budget through Jan. 15, 2014 and lifts the debt limit through Feb. 7, 2014.