Wayne Parry / AP

Piles of debris line portions of Route 35, the main highway through the shore in Toms River N.J. Friday, Jan. 4, 2012. Congress voted to approve aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy, but many shore residents were angry it took lawmakers so long to act following the Oct. 29 storm.

Reported by Tom Curry, NBC News national affairs writer

Responding to the insurance claims of property owners hit by last October’s superstorm Sandy, Congress voted Friday to approve $9.7 billion in additional borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program, which covers property owners in flood-prone areas.

Elected officials in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had assailed House Speaker John Boehner for not allowing a vote Tuesday night on additional funding for people affected by last October’s storm. Friday’s vote was a prelude to another vote on Jan. 15 to make additional outlays to cities, towns and property owners affected by the storm.

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Michael Reynolds / EPA

Members of Congress applaud as Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois walks up the east steps of the Senate on Jan. 3 with assistance from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, left, and Vice President Joe Biden.

Michael Reynolds / EPA

Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, left, waves with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia as Kirk returns to the Senate. Vice President Joe Biden and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, right, look on.

 By Tracy Connor, NBC News: In the year since he had a major stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk has taken his recovery one step at a time. On Thursday, the Illinois Republican took 45 more – climbing the stairs to the Senate’s front door while colleagues cheered him on. “Yeah, Mark!” the crowd shouted as Kirk, 53, mounted the steps, slowly and stiffly, with Vice President Biden grasping his right arm. Full Story

Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

Vice President Joe Biden, right, and Sen. Joe Manchin help Sen. Mark Kirk to climb up the stairs upon his return to the Senate. A stroke devastated the left side of Kirk's body and left him so close to death he saw angels – with New York accents – at his hospital bed.

Video: Sen. Kirk welcomed back to Capitol with cheers

Previously on PhotoBlog:

• Congress works overtime on fiscal cliff deadline
• Rare honor: Senator Inouye lies in state in the Capitol rotunda
• Capitol flags fly at half-staff

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Mary Calvert / Reuters

Unidentified aides deliver pizza to House Democrats in a conference room around the hallway from the office of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 1.

Charles Dharapak / AP

A Marine sentry stands guard, indicating that President Obama is working in the West Wing of the White House, as discussions regarding the fiscal cliff continue on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 1.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., confer as they leave a closed-door meeting on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night on Jan. 1.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., enters a Republican caucus meeting to discuss the terms of the fiscal cliff deal at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan 1.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Republican House Budget Committee chair Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chats with Aaron Schock, R-Ill., at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 1.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives for a House Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss the legislation that will blunt the effects of the "fiscal cliff" before a rare New Year's Day session in Washington.

• GOP seeks path forward in House for fiscal deal
• Despite last-minute deal, more political drama likely on the way

Susan Walsh / AP

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, the second-longest-serving senator in history, lies in state in the Capitol rotunda in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, and Speaker of the House John Boehner put their hands over their hearts as the flag-draped casket of Sen. Inouye arrives at the Capitol rotunda.

The AP reports: Sen. Daniel Inouye, the second-longest serving senator in U.S. history, was remembered Thursday as a man who gallantly defended his country on the battlefield and gracefully sought to better it during the 50-plus years he represented his beloved state of Hawaii.

Colleagues and aides lined the Capitol rotunda five deep to say farewell. The rare ceremony demonstrated the respect and good will he generated over the years. Only 31 people have lain in the Capitol rotunda; the last was former President Gerald R. Ford nearly six years ago. The last senator who died in office and was accorded the honor was Democrat Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, in 1978. Full Story

Evan Vucci / AP

The casket of Sen. Inouye is carried into the Capitol.

Susan Walsh / AP

Sen. Daniel Inouye lies in state in the Capitol rotunda.

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Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Capitol Hill police check an unidentified man dressed as Santa Claus with a metal detector as he enters the U.S. Capitol on his way to Speaker of the House John Boehner's office on Dec. 12, in Washington, DC. The man was working with the group Catholics United, and wanted to urge Speaker of the House John Boehner to pass pending "fiscal cliff" legislation before Christmas.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

A man dressed as Santa walks to a press conference on Capitol Hill on Dec. 12, in Washington, DC. Speakers at the press conference, organized by Catholics United, spoke about the pending fiscal cliff in the United States and urged the Congress to pass tax cuts for middle-class Americans.

For the latest information on the fiscal cliff:

• NBC/WSJ poll: Two-thirds support balanced deficit deal
• Boehner: 'Serious differences' separate GOP from Obama
• NBC Politics

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Impatient with how long it was taking House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to drive a nail, Speaker of the House John Boehner finishes the job with one stroke during the "First Nail" ceremony, signifying the start of construction of the 2013 Inaugural Platform in front of the U.S. Capitol. Afterwards, she looks very impressed with his handiwork. 

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Members of Congress swing their hammers during the event. The winner of the Nov. 6 presidential election will be sworn in on the platform on Jan. 21, 2013.

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Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

Denis Balibouse / Reuters

Mark Kelly, NASA astronaut and commander of mission STS-134, walks with NASA astronaut Greg Johnson, ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori and other roped party members walk from the Refuge des Cosmiques back to L'Aiguille du Midi near Mont-Blanc in Chamonix July 23.

Denis Balibouse / Reuters

Former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, center, stands with her husband Mark Kelly, right, NASA astronaut and commander of mission STS-134, and mountain guide Vincent Lameyre before Kelly and two other astronauts walked from L'Aiguille du Midi to the Refuge des Cosmiques near Mont-Blanc in Chamonix July 23.

Slideshow: Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Saul Loeb / EPA

A look at the Arizona lawmaker's rise to prominence — from high school to Capitol Hill.

Launch slideshow

Reuters reports: CHAMONIX, France- Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, still recovering from wounds after being shot last year, traveled high up into the French Alps on Monday with her astronaut husband Mark Kelly.

Giffords, who still uses a wheelchair much of the time, was on her first trip outside the United States since she was shot in the head by a gunman in January 2011 as she met local people outside a Tucson supermarket.

She rode the two-stage cable car to a station with spectacular views of Mont Blanc and other peaks in France, Italy and Switzerland. Full story

Natacha Pisarenko / AP

Government supporters celebrate outside the Congress in Buenos Aires on May 3, 2012 after Argentina's takeover of its formerly state-owned energy company won approval from legislators.

Ivan Fernandez / EPA

Deputies and spectators attending the session of Congress celebrate the final approval of the proposal of creating a bill to expropriate the oil company.

Reuters reports — Argentina's Congress nationalized the country's biggest oil company, YPF, by an overwhelming lower house vote on Thursday that underscored broad popular support for a measure that threatens to scare off foreign investment. 

"It's a good move for the country because if the government does not control strategic resources such as oil, it loses power," said financial analyst Leonardo Rodriguez, 32, as he sipped a latté in the well-heeled Buenos Aires neighborhood of Puerto Madero.

"But the approach used in taking over the company, without negotiating, was too jarring and authoritarian," Rodriguez said. "There could be serious consequences. I mean, who wants to invest in a country where the government expropriates private property from one day to the next?" Read the full story.

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Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gets a hug from House Cloak Room attendant Ella Terry after she resigned from the House of Representatives on Jan. 25. Giffords resigned from Congress to focus on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head she received last year from a lone gunman in Arizona.

Slideshow: Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Saul Loeb / EPA

A look at the Arizona lawmaker's rise to prominence — from high school to Capitol Hill.

Launch slideshow

Amid tears, salutes and standing ovations, Representative Gabrielle Giffords submitted her resignation from Congress on Wednesday to focus on her recovery from an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona, last year.

In farewell remarks that hinted at a second political career in the future, the Democratic lawmaker said: "I will recover and will return. And we will work together again, for Arizona, and all Americans." Her remarks were read to the House by one of her friends, Democratic Representative Deborah Wasserman-Schultz.

-- Reuters contributed to this blog post

Related links:

• NBC Politics: Giffords officially resigns from Congress
• More Images of Gabrielle Giffords

As one of our headlines succinctly put it over the weekend, It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad DC. One less mad just would not have covered it. Here are a few images that struck me from a weekend of deal-making.

Joshua Roberts / Reuters

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) walks from a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the debt ceiling crises on Capitol Hill in Washington July 31.

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), right, talks with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as the U.S. Congress tries to hammer out a solution to the looming debt ceiling crisis at the U.S. Capitol July 30.

Brendan Smialowski / EPA

Senate Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gives a thumbs-up while walking to the Senate floor to announce a deal July 31.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

President Barack Obama walks past Vice President Joe Biden and White House Communications Director Daniel Pfeiffer after speaking on the debt limit impasse from the briefing room of the White House July 31.

Last Wednesday NBC's cameras secured unique access to the corridors of power, as well as a few more unlikely locations around town, for a special show entitled Taking the Hill: Inside Congress. For me, the most amusing vignette takes place in "what could easily be mistaken for a Capitol Hill frat house" (© Brian Williams) but is actually the shared DC home of Senators Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin and Congressman George Miller. Check it out at 3:10 in the clip below.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

President Barack Obama approaches the podium before speaking on the debt limit impasse from the briefing room of the White House on July 31, in Washington, D.C. Obama indicated that he and Republican members of Congress have reached a compromise to solve the debt limit impasse prior to the August 2 deadline.

Obama said the agreement will cut about $1 trillion over 10 years.

The bipartisan plan will be presented to Congress on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

Read more here.