Gabrielle Giffords returned to Congress to vote on the debt ceiling deal

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Returned to Congress this evening for the first time since it was shot in the head in January, to vote in support of the bill ceiling debt compromise.

"Gabriel has returned to Washington to support a bipartisan bill to prevent an economic crisis," read the message posted on the Twitter account Giffords' while members began casting their votes on the house floor.

A few minutes later, Giffords has entered the cell slowly out loud, sustained applause and standing ovation to his colleagues, who gathered around her to give hugs, kisses and handshakes.

Vice President Joe Biden, with a broad smile on his face, walked over to the House and said: "I came to see Gabby, that's why I'm here."

In the hallway next to Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly was all smiles as well.
"It feels good," he said when his wife was her first casting vote after the tragedy. "Great in fact."

"It was above and beyond the call of duty," the Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi said Giffords she left the house floor today. "She's the heroine ... inspiration."

Pelosi said she knew Giffords came to the Hill for a vote for a while, but did not want to say anything until it happened. The two spent some time on the floor, said this evening.

"We had our girl talk. If the girls hugs and all that. So it was pretty exciting, personally and officially," Pelosi said. "She honored us with his presence."

Biden ssaid he and Giffords, "sympathized with the stages of recovery."

"She's great," Biden said. "Will has a value. She is the epitome of a strong, strong, strong woman. Think about what she went through. And to think of his determination."

Asked about any plans for Giffords to go to the White House, Biden does not exclude, but would not comment.

"It is not appropriate for me to talk about her schedule," Biden said.
Giffords said a representative of CJ Karamargin Tucson Weekly in an e-mail that "the congressman insists on the participation."

"Congressman Giffords followed this debate closely for the past two weeks," she said. "Like the vast majority of Americans, she is extremely disappointed by the inability of Washington to address the issue of debt ceiling in a timely and thoughtful manner."
Accompanied by her husband, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., Giffords went out the floor slowly, giving a slight wave to people as she left. She left the Capitol in an SUV shortly thereafter.

"It was an emotional couple of hours," Wasserman Schultz told ABC News' Diane Sawyer on "World News". She said Giffords decided to make a trip to Washington, because she "wanted to make sure that her district had a voice in this important vote."

Her appearance on the floor "melted even the hearts," Wasserman Schultz said Sawyer.
"I've never seen more energy on the floor, vomit, than when she went triumpantly the stairs," she said.

When Biden was asked about what he was talking about with Giffords, he joked: "It is now a member of the club crack head like me."

Debt ceiling bill passed the House 269-161. The Senate will vote on the measure on Tuesday.