Paul Ryan: Steve Scalise's return to Capitol was a “beautiful moment”
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Louisisana, returned to Capitol Hill Thursday for the first time since he was gravely injured in a June shooting at a congressional baseball practice. And in an interview with Face the Nation that will air Sunday, House Speaker Paul Ryan hailed his homecoming as a "beautiful moment."
"I haven't cried in awhile, and I cried," Ryan told moderator John Dickerson when asked how he reacted to Scalise's return.
"We've had so much bitterness in this country," he explained. "We've had political acrimony. We went through a tough election. We're going through all these moments. And Steve Scalise was shot on a ball diamond practicing for a charity game. And what that did was it so brought us together, and in Congress it made us look at each other as fellow human beings who are passionate about causes but who respect one another."
The shooting in June in Alexandria, Virginia, injured five people, including Scalise, before the gunman was shot and killed. Scalise, the third-in-command House Republican, underwent several surgeries and a long period of rehabilitation to be able to come back to work.
"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," Ryan said in the interview. "It was so wonderful. It gave us all a great feeling because so many of us have been praying for Steve and his family. But it also is unifying. Nancy Pelosi came to the floor and gave a magnificent speech. She and Steve are very close. They have an Italian heritage. They've always talked about that."
"What I saw today, and what I've seen ever since Steve got shot, were members of Congress being more caring toward one another, thinking about each other, praying for each other," Ryan concluded. "And that's the kind of dynamic I think we'd like to see more of in this country. And so out of these tragedies good things can come. And we sure saw that on display today with Steve."
For more of Ryan's interview with Dickerson, tune in Sunday. Check your local listings for airtimes.
