House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Friday that Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s return was “a beautiful moment” for Congress.
“We’ve had so much bitterness in this country. We’ve had political acrimony. We went through a tough election,” Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, said in an interview that aired earlier in the morning on CBS News. “To see Steve go from literally nearly dying a few times, to relearning how to walk, to multiple surgeries, to coming on the House floor today, it was a beautiful thing.”
Mr. Ryan had an emotional reunion with Mr. Scalise, on Thursday after the Louisiana Republican was shot on a baseball field earlier this year by a left-wing activist. The House speaker saw Mr. Scalise prior to his speech on the House floor and fell to his knees as the two embraced.
The incident left many members of Congress shaken that a politically motivated gunman could target them. There were calls to soften the decisive political rhetoric, but those largely faded during the months that followed.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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