US Senate's Reid reassured by Republicans' debt ceiling move

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said on Friday that if the Republican-led House of Representatives can pass a "clean" debt ceiling increase, the Democrat-majority Senate "will be happy to consider it."

"It is reassuring to see Republicans beginning to back off their threat to hold our economy hostage," Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson said in a statement.

The statement was issued after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, said the House would consider a bill next week to extend the U.S. debt limit by three months.