POLITICAL FIGURES: “House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, seriously wounded by a gunman’s bullet in June, is returning to Congress Thursday [9-28-17].
It’s Scalise’s first time in the Capitol since he took a bullet to the hip while practicing with the Republican congressional baseball team in Alexandria, Va. The shot shattered bone and tore through muscles and organs, leaving Scalise on the brink of death.
But after months of treatment and steady recovery, Scalise made his first journey from the hospital to the hill.
It’s sure to be a welcome sight for lawmakers, who once feared they may never see their colleague again and greeted him warmly.
Though he’s been absent from Congress, Scalise has worked the phones to try to help the House prepare for a hectic fall agenda.
Scalise’s office said he will be resuming his work at the Capitol, while also completing an extended period of out-patient rehabilitation over the coming months.
Scalise was shot while playing second base in preparation for an annual charity game against congressional Democrats. The shooting, by a lone gunman who appeared to attempt a political assassination, was a harrowing moment that rippled across Washington and the country. Lawmakers offered vivid descriptions of dodging bullets and fleeing the gunman until Scalise’s Capitol Police detail was able to take him down.
The episode has since led lawmakers to seek increased funding for personal security.”
-Kyle Cheney and Rachael Bade, “Scalise returns to Congress for first time since shooting,” Politico, Sept. 28, 2017 10:10am