Giffords returns to Congress for first vote since Jan. 8
By Stephanie Innes, Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 4:12 pm | (0) Comments
In this image from House Television, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., appears on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, in Washington. Giffords was on the floor for the first time since her shooting earlier this year, attending a vote on the debt standoff compromise.
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords received a standing ovation as she entered the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today to vote on the debt ceiling.
Wearing a blue suit and smiling, Giffords hugged colleagues as she prepared to cast her first vote since January.
The vote taking place today is regarded as the single most important vote taken this year by the House of Representatives. The congresswoman insisted on participating, her spokesman C.J. Karamargin wrote in an email.
Giffords has been following this debate closely over the past two weeks, her staff says.
�Like the vast majority of Americans, she is extremely disappointed at Washington�s inability to confront the debt ceiling issue in a timely and thoughtful manner,� Karamargin wrote.
Giffords� office says the congresswoman will vote in favor of a bipartisan bill to avert economic crisis.
The 41-year-old congresswoman made her return to the nation�s capitol today for the first time since being shot clear through the left side of the brain in an assassination attempt in Tucson Jan. 8.
Read more:
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/4762baf6-bc92-11e0-8ee3-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1TpCpprXm