Brody's Notes... Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Returns To House Floor

Gabby Giffords, (Centre) Is surrounded by colleagues on House Floor

By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON D. C. -- In an emotionally charged appearance on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives Monday, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona) made a surprise and emotional return casting a vote in favor of the bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

Seven months after being shot by a gunman outside a Safeway grocery store in suburban Tuscon, Arizona, at a previously scheduled "meet & greet" with her constituents, Giffords entered the chamber to a sustained, standing applause from house members from both parties, shaking hands with colleagues whom she had not seen since the January shooting. Her vote was in favor of the bill, which passed by the House in a vote of 269 to 161.

“I have closely followed the debate over our debt ceiling and have been deeply disappointed at what’s going on in Washington,” Giffords said later, in a statement from her office. 

“After weeks of failed debate in Washington, I was pleased to see a solution to this crisis emerge. I strongly believe that crossing the aisle for the good of the American people is more important than party politics. I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy.”

After the final vote had been cast by the assembled House members, Giffords received multiple additional rounds of applause, as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) called Giffords "the personification of courage."

"Her presence here in the chamber as well as her service throughout her career in Congress, brings honor to this chamber," Pelosi said. "Thank you, Gabby.

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