[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 25, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H167-H169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING REPRESENTATIVE GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, all of us come to the floor today, 
colleagues of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, to salute her as the 
brightest star among us, the brightest star Congress has ever seen.
  When she came to Congress and in her service and leadership here, 
Gabby Giffords brought to Washington and the Capitol the views of a new 
generation of national leader. From this floor, she has spoken out 
courageously and led boldly at times that demanded both.
  Since the tragic events of 1 year ago, Congresswoman Giffords has 
become an inspiring symbol of determination and courage to millions of 
Americans.
  She has brought the word ``dignity'' to new heights by her courage.

                              {time}  1020

  Congresswoman Giffords' message of bipartisanship and civility is one 
that all in Washington and in the Nation should honor and emulate. As 
Gabby said in her video, which moved us all so much this weekend, we 
can do so much more by working together.
  In that vein, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for the courtesies 
extended to enable this extraordinary ceremony to take place today. 
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With your permission, I would like to 
acknowledge Gabby's mother, who is with us today, Gloria, and her 
father, Spencer, who is watching from Tucson. We thank you.
  And we thank Commander Mark Kelly, a hero in his own right as an 
astronaut and a commander of a mission, but also our personal hero, for 
the care and love that he has given to Gabby over this past year--oh, 
and before that, to help make her, as Gloria and Spencer have, the 
person that she is.
  I think all of our colleagues join in thanking you, Gabby, for the 
honor of calling you colleague and wishing you and Mark much happiness 
and success. You will be missed in the House of Representatives, but 
your legacy in this Congress and your leadership in our Nation will 
certainly endure. So thank you for being who you are, for lifting our 
country at a very important and sad time. We wish you, again, much 
success. With great gratitude, admiration, and affection, we salute 
you, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, one last time.
  It is now my privilege to yield the floor to the distinguished 
majority leader of the House, the gentleman from Virginia, 
Representative Cantor.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the leader.
  Mr. Speaker, a little more than a year ago, America witnessed a 
heinous attack on Gabby Giffords, her staff, and the citizens of 
Tucson. This attack took six innocent lives, including Gabe Zimmerman, 
injured 13, and shook all of us in the congressional community and, in 
fact, our Nation to its core. This attack was a stark reminder that 
even in this country, where freedom of speech and public demonstration 
are the cornerstones of our democracy, citizens and public officials 
can face violence and danger. We will never forget those who lost their 
lives on that fateful day or the brave efforts of our law enforcement, 
community members, and a very special intern who responded in the 
emergency.
  Mr. Speaker, I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say we 
are inspired, hopeful, and blessed for the incredible progress that 
Gabby has made in her recovery. Gabby's courage, her strength, and her 
downright fortitude are an inspiration to all of us and all Americans.
  As Gabby leaves the House today, Mr. Speaker, she has decided to 
focus her energies on recovery, but she has refused to give up her 
fight for the people of her beloved Arizona and her country; and as 
such, today we will vote on her legislation to help secure our Nation's 
southwestern border. Gabby's bill gives law enforcement greater 
authority to penalize those who seek to do us harm by engaging in 
illegal activity along the border. I commend Gabby for her commitment 
to work on this and her unwavering commitment to a safer, more secure 
America.
  For the past 6 years, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords has served 
Arizona's Eighth District with dedication and dignity. I want to 
recognize her accomplishments here and thank her staff for their 
exceptional service, dedication, and, yes, courage during these 
difficult times.
  Mr. Speaker, I especially want to recognize her chief of staff, Pia 
Carusone. I know, having met with Pia personally, her having worked 
with our office, she has demonstrated incredible dedication to her 
coworkers, to you, Gabby, and, Mr. Speaker, she has demonstrated 
unparalleled leadership for the people of the Eighth District of 
Arizona. And for that, I know they are and we are very grateful.
  On Sunday, Mr. Speaker, I received a call from Captain Mark Kelly--as 
we all know, Gabby's husband--who informed me of Gabby's decision. Mark 
has been steadfast in his support of his wife and forever by her side 
as her best friend and partner. Though Gabby may be leaving Washington 
today, I know this won't be the last we see of her or Mark.
  We wish you, Gabby, we wish Mark, together, the best as they continue 
the process of Gabby's recovery.
  And I'll say once again, Mr. Speaker, Gabby Giffords' strength 
against all odds serves and will continue to serve as a daily 
inspiration to all of us.
  Ms. PELOSI. I thank the leader.
  Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield to Gabby's friend, the 
distinguished minority whip of the House, the gentleman from Maryland, 
Congressman Hoyer.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the leader for yielding. I thank the Speaker for 
ensuring that we would have this opportunity to speak to our friend, 
Gabby Giffords. I thank the majority leader for his comments.
  None of us on this floor are talented enough to summon the rhetoric 
that all of us feel in our hearts. We have young men and women arrayed 
on the fields of Iraq and Afghanistan and other troubled spots in the 
world. They are fighting for freedom and democracy, and too many of 
them are injured on those fields.
  Our beloved colleague Gabby Giffords was injured on the field in the 
exercise of that democracy, and in being injured, she has become an 
example for us, for all Americans--and, indeed, all the world--of 
courage, of clarity of purpose, of grace, of responsibility, of a sense 
of duty, which she exercises this day.

                              {time}  1030

  I love Gabby Giffords. I was honored when she first ran for office, 
before she was elected, to go to her district, as I have done for so 
many others in this country, to stand by her side, to walk down the 
streets of her community with her, to see in her the beauty not only of 
person. Many of us see the outward visage of us all, but Gabby's beauty 
is in the heart, in the soul, in the spirit.
  The House of Representatives of America has been made proud by this 
extraordinary daughter of this House who served so well during her 
tenure here, who felt so deeply about her constituents and cared so 
much for her country.

[[Page H168]]

  Gabby, we love you. We have missed you.
  Ms. GIFFORDS. I miss you.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I don't know whether you were able to hear 
that response. As Gabby looked with that extraordinary smile, the 
twinkle in her eyes, she said to me and to all of us, ``I miss you.'' 
Do any of us doubt that that is the case?
  Pia, we are blessed in this House to be served by extraordinary 
people, of which you are a perfect example, by people who love us but 
love their country even more, who serve our constituents so 
extraordinarily well, who evidence every day care for us and care for 
the work that we do, which we could not do, Pia, without people like 
yourself and all of your colleagues that we call staff. Thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, God has blessed Gabrielle Giffords, and he has sent a 
blessing to all of us in the person of Gabrielle Giffords. And God 
blessed Gabby as well with an extraordinary mom and dad and an 
extraordinary partner in life.
  Mark, we owe you a debt of gratitude. Our country owes you a debt of 
gratitude. I look forward to the day when you and Gabby will be 
returning here, returned to full health and full ability to serve.
  Gabby, America thanks you. It thanks you for the example that you 
have given of overcoming adversity, and doing so with a spirit 
unparalleled. God bless you and Godspeed.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I know that every Member in the House would 
like to associate himself or herself with the remarks of our 
distinguished majority leader and Democratic whip, especially with 
regard to Gabby, of course, but also Pia.
  It is something that every day we have the Chaplain or the guest 
chaplain come to the floor and ask God's blessing on this House. As Mr. 
Hoyer said, one of those blessings to us has certainly been the 
leadership and the life and service that will continue for many years 
to come of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
  We focus on her. She is our friend. We look at her remarkable 
recovery with great pride. She also carries in her need for recovery 
the sorrow of so many others who lost their lives today. So the 
apparent physical recovery that we see is something even more than we 
could ever imagine for the challenge that Congresswoman Giffords has 
faced.
  God gave her a very special mission. He gave it to Gabby Giffords 
because he knew she could carry that burden because he has blessed her 
with so many, many gifts and a very loving family to make her the 
person that she is. How fortunate we have all been to be part of her 
life until now and hopefully for a long time to come.
  Now, it is with very mixed emotions, Mr. Speaker, that I yield to 
Gabby's very good and close friend. I say ``mixed emotions'' because we 
want her to stay with us, but, intellectually, we know that Gabby has 
made the right decision. Hopefully, it will be liberating for her in 
many ways but that she goes with knowing the close ties we all feel 
personally to her.
  So, Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to yield the floor now to a very 
close friend of Gabby, a leader in this House, the gentlelady from 
Florida, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. If I can ask my colleagues to join me at the 
well.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Madam Leader, Mr. Whip, and Majority 
Leader.
  I couldn't prepare anything this morning because I knew that I would 
not be able to hold it together for very long.
  I am so proud of my friend, and it will always be one of the great 
treasures of my life to have met Gabby Giffords and to have served with 
her in this body.
  We have all been through such a tumultuous year. The Nation has been 
through a tumultuous year, no one more tumultuous than Gabby and her 
family and her constituents in her beloved home city of Tucson, 
Arizona.
  Being able to be Gabby's voice today and knowing her as well as I do, 
the one thing that has not been said is that Gabby wants her 
constituents to know, her constituents who she loves so much in 
southern Arizona, that it has been the greatest professional privilege 
of her life to represent them; that she loves them, as a fifth-
generation Tucsonian; that her public service has meant a great deal to 
her; that this is only a pause in that public service; and that she 
will return one day to public service to represent them, as she has so 
capably done for the last 5\1/2\ years.
  And let me just say, a point of personal privilege, that the last 
year has been one of the honors of my life. The most important thing to 
remember is that no matter what we argue about here on this floor or in 
this country, there is nothing more important than family and 
friendship, and that should be held high above all else. I will always 
carry that in my heart, and even though I know we won't see each other 
every day, Gabby, we'll be friends for life--for life.
  It is my privilege to read this letter on behalf of Gabby and her 
family and her constituents:

                                                 January 25, 2012.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Speaker of the House, The Capitol,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker Boehner: In 2001, strongly holding the belief 
     that there is no higher calling than serving my country, I 
     went from selling tires in my Tucson family business to being 
     a freshman representative in the Arizona State House. And for 
     10 years I served--in the Arizona legislature, in the United 
     States Congress, and, after marrying Mark, as a proud 
     military spouse. Always I fought for what I thought was 
     right. But never did I question the character of those with 
     whom I disagreed. Never did I let pass an opportunity to join 
     hands with someone just because he or she held different 
     ideals.
       In public service, I found a venue for my pursuit of a 
     stronger America--by ensuring the safety and security of all 
     Americans, by producing clean energy here at home instead of 
     importing oil from abroad, and by honoring our brave men and 
     women in uniform with the benefits they earned. I found a way 
     to care for others. And in the past year, I have found a 
     value that is unbreakable even by the most vicious of 
     attacks.
       The tragic January 8th shooting in Tucson took the lives of 
     six beautiful Americans and wounded 13 others, me included. 
     Not a day goes by that I don't feel grief for the lives lost 
     and so many others torn apart. Christina-Taylor Green, 
     Dorothy Morris, John Roll, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard, 
     and Gabe Zimmerman embodied the best of America. Each in 
     their own way, they committed their lives to serving their 
     families, community and country, and they died performing a 
     basic but important act of citizenship that's at the heart of 
     our greatness as a nation. They will be remembered always by 
     their country and by their Congress.
       I don't remember much from that terrible day, but I have 
     never forgotten my constituents, my colleagues, or the 
     millions of Americans with whom I share great hopes for this 
     nation. To all of them: Thank you for your prayers, your 
     cards, your well wishes, and your support. And even as I have 
     worked to regain my speech, thank you for your faith in my 
     ability to be your voice.
       The only way I ever served my district in Congress was by 
     giving 100 percent. This past year, that's what I have given 
     to my recovery. Thank you for your patience. From my first 
     steps and first words after being shot to my current physical 
     and speech therapy, I have given all of myself to being able 
     to walk back onto the House floor this year to represent 
     Arizona's 8th Congressional District. However, today I know 
     that now is not the time. I have more work to do on my 
     recovery before I can again serve in elected office.
       This past year my colleagues and staff have worked to make 
     sure my constituents were represented in Congress. But if I 
     can't return, my district deserves to elect a U.S. 
     Representative who can give 100 percent to the job now. For 
     that reason, I have submitted the attached letter of 
     resignation to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.
       Amid all that was lost on January 8th, there was also hope 
     and faith. This past year, it is what I have often clung to: 
     Hope that our government can represent the best of a nation, 
     not the worst. Faith that Americans working together--in 
     their communities, in our Congress--can succeed without 
     qualification. Hope and faith that even as we are set back by 
     tragedy or profound disagreement, in the end we come together 
     as Americans to set a course toward greatness.
       Everyday, I am working hard. I will recover and will 
     return, and we will work together again, for Arizona and for 
     all Americans.
           Sincerely,
                                                Gabielle Giffords,
                                               Member of Congress.

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, in appreciation, once again, for your 
courtesies enabling this to happen, I yield back the balance of my 
time.


                      Announcement by the Speaker

  The SPEAKER. The Chair would remind all Members to be in proper 
business attire when they come to the floor of the House.

[[Page H169]]



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