Rep. Giffords says she ‘had to’ return Aug. 1 to vote for raising the debt ceiling.
Gabrielle Giffords received a well-deserved standing ovation Aug. 1 upon her return to Congress, seven months after being shot in the head outside a Tuscon, Ariz., grocery store by a crazed gunman. ”I had to be here for this vote,” Rep. Giffords, 41, said in a statement. “I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy.”
Her unannounced return proved to be an emotional one, People reports, with many of her colleagues being moved to tears as she embraced them.
Rep. Giffords voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling, along with 94 other Democrats, resulting in its passing.
“Her presence here in the chamber … brings honor to this chamber,” Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said. “Throughout America, there isn’t a name that stirs more love, more admiration, more respect, more wishing for our daughters to be like her than the name of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Thank you, Gabby.”
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