Cheers, tears and hugs as wounded congressman returns

WASHINGTON» Greeted by hugs, tears and a roaring standing ova-tion, a hobbling Majority Whip Steve Scalise returned to the House on Thursday, more than three months after a gunman sprayed fire at a baseball practice and left the law-maker clinging to life .

“You have no idea how great this feels to be back here at work in the people’ s house ,” the 51- year-old Lou-isiana Republican said to a chamber packed with lawmakers, including senators who had crossed the Capi-tol to welcome him back.

Scalise limped into the chamber on crutches, wearing sneakers, smil-ing broadly and blowing kisses in his first public appearance since the June 14 shooting .

“Our prayers have been an-swered ,” declared Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

The moment marked a joy fully bi-partisan departure from the bitter divisions that have dominated Con-gress this year.