Obama Signs Debt Ceiling Bill

In a 74-26 vote, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would increase the debt-ceiling limit and cut spending earlier on Tuesday, which the president signed.

The bill was sent to President Barack Obama for his signature, which he signed a little after 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s Press Secretary Rebecca Neal told Patch via a phone interview from the senator’s Washington D.C. office that Toomey is expected to release a statement later Tuesday about the vote. 

But in a press release on Monday he stated he would not be voting for the bill.

"Our government is heading for a fiscal crisis. We have doubled spending since 2000. Our deficits are now more than $1.4 trillion per year, and our debt has reached a stunning $14.3 trillion," Toomey stated. 

"Unfortunately, the debt ceiling deal announced last night does nothing to deal with the path of our government's unsustainable deficit spending. For fiscal year 2012, this legislation will only cut two-tenths of 1 percent of total spending. Not only will our debt grow each year under this plan, it will continue to grow even as a percentage of our economy. …”

Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. had this to say Tuesday after the bill's passage from the U.S. Senate.

"This compromise isn’t perfect, but it does avoid default and includes significant spending cuts to help put our fiscal house in order. Today, a compromise to avoid default and to avoid more economic pain came down to the wire. There is enough uncertainty in the economy without Washington adding more. This is no way to govern," he stated in a press release.

"It is time for Washington to put aside partisan politics and work to solve the problems facing Pennsylvania and the United States."

, the House of Representatives passed the bill 269-161.