The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution hailing those responsible for killing Osama bin Laden. 

The resolution hashed out by leaders in both parties names both President Obama and former President George W. Bush, as well as members of the civilian government, military and intelligence community for their work in finding bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. special operations forces on Sunday. 

The resolution declares "the death of Osama bin Laden represents a measure of justice and relief for the families and friends of the nearly 3,000 men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001."

To reflect the symbolic importance of the vote, senators each individually rose and cast their vote in favor of the resolution when they were called, a formality the Senate rarely uses. 

The vote was 97-0 with only Sens. Daniel Akaka (D-Ha.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) missing the vote. Former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) resigned from the Senate on Monday and has not yet been replaced.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) praised his former rival for the presidency for ordering an assault team strike instead of an air raid in the attack on Osama bin Laden's compound. 

McCain said President Obama showed "courage" in his decision on Sunday's attack that resulted in bin Laden's death.

“I specifically want to credit the president with ordering an air-borne assault by ground forces rather than aerial bombardment," McCain said on the Senate floor.  "It would have been a lot easier to simply turn bin Laden's compound into a smoldering crater, but it would have denied us the certainty we now have that bin Laden is dead.

The resolution says the former president launched the mission to bring bin Laden “to justice” and the incumbent completed it.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday warned her Democratic colleagues that House Republicans will continue to attack last year's healthcare law until all of it is repealed.

"Mr. Chairman, we're going to keep revisiting this until we get single every piece of this bill off the books," she said.

The House on Tuesday afternoon approved a rule for two bills that would repeal parts of last year's healthcare law.

Members approved H.Res. 236 by a 237-185 vote — only four Democrats supported it. The rule allows for consideration of H.R. 1213 and H.R. 1214.

Earlier debate on the rule indicated that Democrats will largely reject the two bills as another Republican attempt to gut the healthcare law. Republicans argued in favor of the bills as a way to trim federal spending.

The House will spend the remainder of Tuesday afternoon debating the two bills, as well as five Democratic amendments to H.R. 1213.

House Republicans on Tuesday returned to their first substantive piece of legislation since mid-April by attacking billions of dollars in planned spending over the next decade to help states create health insurance exchanges.

The exchanges were established in last year's healthcare law, and the Congressional Budget Office expects $14 billion to be spent on the exchanges over the next decade.

"Quite simply, our country is broke, and we cannot continue to spend money like we have in the past," Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) said in his opening remarks on the floor.

The Senate will vote on a resolution at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to honor members of the military and intelligence community involved in the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.  

The resolution, crafted by Senate leaders in both parties on Monday afternoon, is expected to honor both President Obama and former President George W. Bush for directing the nearly decade-long hunt for bin Laden.

According to Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) spokesman, Jon Summers, senators will be seated at their desks in the chamber for the vote, a fairly rare ceremonial move that signifies the gravity of the vote. 

Summers announced the timing of the vote in a post on Twitter:

"Sen 2 vote @ 3:30 on resolution honoring servicemen & intelligence comm on mission that killed Osama bin Laden. Sens will be seated @ desks"

—Alexander Bolton contributed to this story.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Leon Panetta will hold a classified briefing for senators at 5 p.m. Tuesday on the U.S. forces killing of Osama bin Laden, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said.

President Obama announced Sunday evening bin Laden was shot to death in a firefight in a compound about 30 miles from Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad.

Senators and administration officials have questioned whether Pakistani intelligence forces or the military knew bin Laden was hiding in the compound. The U.S. has provided billions in aid to that country since 9/11 in return for cooperation in the fight against terror.

Panetta will brief House lawmakers earlier in the afternoon.

House Democrats on Tuesday morning indicated they were preparing alternatives to two bills the House is expected to take up Thursday aimed at increasing offshore drilling for oil and gas.

Speaking on the House floor, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said he would offer an amendment later in the week that would increase taxes on oil companies by $37 billion and give that money to licensed U.S. drivers. Connolly said that change would amount to about $185 per driver, equivalent to a reduction in gas prices of about 27 cents per gallon.