Mixed news about Congresswoman Gifford: Dead or alive?
Here are a few articles I have just come across, the latest is she is alive and wikipedia re-edited the status removing the date of death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Giffords
An hour earlier she tweeted “My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later.”
(Twitter)
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona died after being shot in the head while meeting constituents at a grocery store in Tucson, NPR reported on Saturday.
Giffords, a 40-year-old Democrat in her third term in Congress, was shot point blank by an unidentified gunman who fired indiscriminately into the crowd, NPR and other U.S. media said.
About a dozen others at the meeting were shot and the gunman was wrestled to the ground and taken into custody, Fox said, citing an eyewitness.
[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]Giffords was airlifted to a hospital to a hospital after the shooting.
Re-elected in the November 2 election, Giffords focused on immigration reform, military issues, stem cell research and alternative energy while serving in Congress. She was married to U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Paul Simao, editing by Bill Trott)
Giffords was first sworn in as a congresswoman on January 3, 2007. She was the third woman in Arizona’s history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress. In her inaugural speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Giffords said a comprehensive immigration reform package needs to include modern technology to secure the border, more border patrol agents, tough employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program. In her first month in office, Congresswoman Giffords voted to support increased federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, raising the minimum wage, endorsing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and supporting new rules for the House of Representatives targeting ethical issues. Giffords also voted to repeal subsidies to big oil companies and invest the savings in renewable energy. “We put our national security at risk by relying on oil from unstable regimes in the Middle East and Latin America,” Giffords told her colleagues in a speech on the House floor during debate on the Clean Energy Act. The act repeals $14 billion in subsidies given to oil companies and establishes a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve to increase research in clean renewable energy, to develop greater energy efficiency, and to improve energy conservation.
Giffords married U.S. Navy Captain and astronaut Mark E. Kelly on November 10, 2007. He was the space shuttle’s pilot on STS-108 and STS-121. STS-121 in 2006 was the first shuttle mission to launch on the Fourth of July. Giffords participated in a NASA tradition when she selected “Beautiful Day” by U2 as one of the wake-up calls for the STS-121 shuttle crew. On May 31, 2008, Kelly launched into orbit for the third time as Commander of STS-124. This mission in to space marked the first time an astronaut was married to a sitting member of the U.S. Congress.[36]
Just yesterday:
Giffords expects some cooperation between parties
SIERRA VISTA — There are a number of things the U.S. House of Representatives will do in this new session, some of which will be political theater, Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said
Friday.Waiting to change planes in Dallas, Texas, the three-term congresswoman who represents Arizona’s 8th Congressional District told the Herald/Review during a telephone interview she expects both sides — Republican and Democratic — will accomplish some bipartisanship things, but partisanship will also be at play in this session.
Also: Rep. Urges Congress to Lead by Example, Sponsors Bill to Cut Lawmaker Salaries
As Congress eyes major spending cuts to trim the national deficit, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., says House members should be setting an example by taking a five percent decrease in pay, and she’s sponsoring legislation to make it happen.
“Yesterday, we voted to cut our office budgets by five percent, the committee budgets by five percent and leadership budgets by five percent,” she said in an interview on FOX News Friday. “If we’re going to lead by example, I think members of Congress should cut our own salaries by five percent.”
The last time congressional members decreased their pay was in 1933 during the Great Depression and the current salary for House members is $174,000 per year. But Giffords believes there’s no reason why members on both sides of the aisle can’t find common ground on the issue.
“It’s been 77 years since members of congress have reduced their salary. And with millions of people out of work right now, I think it’s the appropriate thing to do,” she said.
Giffords cosponsored a similar bill last year that never made it through the House. But with Republicans now in control of the House, and a theme of fiscal conservatism permeating Capitol Hill, the movement may have more traction this time around.
Popularity: unranked [?]
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