Gabrielle Giffords praised as ‘inspiration’ in White House visit
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to Washington on Thursday for just the second time since the January shooting that nearly took her life, participating in a retirement ceremony to honor her astronaut husband, U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Kelly.
Giffords presented Kelly with the Distinguished Flying Cross medal, which he earned for commanding the fourth and final flight on the space shuttle Endeavour this summer. But the Arizona Democrat was just as much in the spotlight during the event, presided by Vice President Biden in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds.
“As vice president I get to work with an awful lot of people who devote their lives day to day to public service. But it’s not every day you encounter examples of sheer, sheer courage, selflessness and dedication, like you see in this couple,” Biden said.
Speaking specifically to Giffords, Biden said she was an “inspiration.”
“I don’t use the word loosely,” he said. “You’ve been inspirational, people looking, saying ‘I can make it, I can do this.’ “