Former Arizona Representative Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords addressed the crowd at the Democratic National Convention early Wednesday night. She was joined on stage by her husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly. “We have important work ahead of us. Work that will determine the future of our country,” Giffords said. “Are you ready? I’m ready!”
Giffords resigned from congress in 2012, a year after surviving an assassination attempt that left her with traumatic brain injuries. Giffords was shot in the head outside a grocery store in an Arizona town near Tucson. She speaks slowly, and with great effort. She also has limited vision. “In congress, I learned a positive lesson: strong women get things done,” Giffords said. “Hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer. In the White House she will stand up to the gun lobby. That’s why I’m voting for Hillary.”
Giffords and her husband — who took over his wife’s congressional seat in the year following the shooting — have dedicated their lives to Giffords’ recovery and to fighting against the NRA to implement common sense gun laws in America. “Speaking is difficult for me,” Giffords said. “But come January, I want to say these two words: Madam President.”