U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the floor of the House of Representatives Monday evening for the first time since she was grievously wounded during a January assassination attempt.
Giffords, D-Arizona, was met by thunderous applause from colleagues as she walked into the chamber to support a hard-fought bill that would raise the U.S. debt ceiling. Vice President Joe Biden was also on hand as she entered the House, escorted by her chief of staff and by Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a close friend.
Members gave her a standing ovation and swarmed to her side as she came in.
A Democratic source told CNN that Giffords’ office notified Pelosi’s staff of her planned return around noon Monday, and that Giffords’ decision was not known earlier.
House Speaker John Boehner said he was “very surprised” to see Giffords, whom he met as she got off a Capitol elevator.
“It was nice to see her,” said Boehner, who said he told Giffords, “Welcome back.”
Giffords, a three-term congresswoman, was shot through the head at a meeting with constituents in Tucson on January 8. Six other people, including one of her aides and a federal judge, were killed in the attack, and 12 others were wounded.
The man accused of unleashing the bloodbath, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, has been diagnosed as schizophrenic and been ruled incompetent to stand trial. Loughner has refused to take anti-psychotic drugs and is being held in a federal mental hospital.
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