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Giffords Takes Curtain Call in Congress

Emotional Good-Bye: Gabby Giffords gets a hug from President Obama. She formally resigned her congressional seat Wednesday. Image by getty images

Gabrielle Giffords made an emotional curtain call on Capitol Hill Wednesday after resigning her congressional seat as she continues her recovery from an assassination attempt.

“I will recover and will return,” the Arizona Democrat said in a letter read aloud by her friend and colleague, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who fought back tears, CNN reported.

A day after Giffords got a hug from President Barack Obama at the State of the Union, she got a bipartisan standing ovation from colleagues in the House of Reporesentatives.

Giffords is the first and only Jewish woman to serve in Congress from Arizona.

“She has brought the word ‘dignity’ to new heights by her courage,” Pelosi said. “You will be missed.”

Giffords, 41, was nearly killed when a gunman opened fire on a meet-and-greet event in Tucson, Ariz., last January. The attack left six people dead, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl.

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