Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., center, appears on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, in Washington, D.C. Giffords was on the floor for the first time since her shooting earlier this year, attending a vote on the debt standoff compromise.

Gabrielle Giffords votes for debt limit deal
Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., center, gets a hug as she appears on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, in Washington, D.C. Giffords was on the floor for the first time since her shooting earlier this year, attending a vote on the debt standoff compromise.

Gabrielle Giffords votes for debt limit deal
Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., prepares to enter a car as she leaves the U.S. Capitol after a vote on debt legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Monday, Aug. 1, 2011.

Gabrielle Giffords votes for debt limit deal
Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., sits in a car with her husband Mark Kelly as she leaves the U.S. Capitol after she appeared on the House floor to vote on debt legislation in Washington, D.C., Monday, Aug. 1, 2011.

Gabrielle Giffords votes for debt limit deal
Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., poses for a photo the day after the launch of NASA space shuttle Endeavour and the day before she had cranioplasty surgery, outside TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital May 17, 2011, in Houston.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., sits with her mother Gloria Giffords the day after the launch of NASA space shuttle Endeavour and the day before she had cranioplasty surgery, outside TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, May 17, 2011, in Houston.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

Mark Kelly with his wife, Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. "Gabby got one last look at the Catalina Mountains today before her trek to Houston." On Jan. 21, 2011, less than two weeks after being shot in the head in an assassination attempt that killed six, the congresswoman was transferred to a hospital in Houston.

Read More: Giffords Heads to Houston
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Mark Kelly holds the hand of his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at her bedside Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011, in the congresswoman's room at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz.

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Mark Kelly holds the hand of his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, wife — Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Mark Kelly holds the hand of his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at her bedside Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011, in the congresswoman's room at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz.

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AP Photo/Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left,is shown with her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. She loves motorcycles and yoga, and is as comfortable in a business suit walking the halls of Congress as she is clad in leather riding gear at the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. She holds a master's degree in urban planning, yet can mount a tire in a flash. Pretty and petite, sometimes soft-spoken, she will take on even her most ardent adversaries and try talking them down with a firm hand but also a smile. Said one friend of Giffords: "She really pretty much defies a lot of description."

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AP Photo/Office of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz, left, poses with Pam Simon, who works in community outreach in the congresswoman's office, in this undated photo. Simon was wounded in the Saturday Jan. 8, 2011, shooting in Tucson.

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords poses for a photo in March 2010. Giffords was critically wounded during a shooting at a political event Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz.

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In this undated photo provided by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Giffords, right, is shown with Arizona Federal District Judge John Roll. Giffords was critically wounded and Roll was killed during a shooting Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz.

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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio reenacts the swearing-in of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. Giffords was shot in the head Saturday, Jan. 8 when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with constituents, killing six people and wounding several others in a rampage that rattled the nation.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio reenacts the swearing in of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. It's Giffords' third term in Congress.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., takes part in a reenactment of her swearing-in, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. The 40-year-old Democrat, born and raised in Arizona, has built a reputation as a true centrist. She supported President Obama last year on controversial issues like health care reform, but she has also taken a firm stance on ratcheting up security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, back right, serve as Salvation Army bell ringers on Dec. 13, 2010.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson

AP Photo/Arizona Daily Star, Kelly Presnell

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gets a hug from a supporter at the Pima County Democratic election party at the Tucson Marriott in Tucson, Ariz. on Nov. 2, 2010. Giffords was elected to Congress in 2006 after Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe retired. Before that, she served in the Arizona state legislature.

Giffords is a third-generation Southern Arizonan. She is married to Mark Kelly, an astronaut who is scheduled to command the Shuttle Endeavor when it launches in April.

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 28, 2010.

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, shakes hands with Mark Salcido after Giffords addressed the Governor's Southern Arizona Military Veterans' Roundtable on Oct. 6, 2008.

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Rep. Gabielle Giffords, D-Tucson, addresses the Governor's Southern Arizona Military Veterans' Roundtable while campaigning in Tucson, Ariz. on Oct. 6, 2008.

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U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, in a June 2007 photo.

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U.S. Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who represents Arizona's 8th Congressional District, right, talks to media after a new House member orientation on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 13, 2006.

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Democratic candidate for Congress Gabrielle Giffords celebrates her win in Tucson, Ariz. on Nov. 7, 2006.

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Candidate Gabrielle Giffords arrives to vote in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 7, 2006.

Special section: Tragedy in Tucson