Honoring Representative Gabrielle Giffords
Floor Speech
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.
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.
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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 gen tle lady from Florida, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
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