GIFFORDS VOTES, RETURNS TO TWITTER

posted by Andrea Kelly

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' voted Monday to raise the debt ceiling, surprising many of her colleagues by appearing on the House floor for the vote.

She's been out of the public eye except for a few occasions since she was shot through the head at a constituent event Jan. 8. Monday's vote was her first vote since the shooting. But Monday she was front and center on C-SPAN coverage of the vote, footage many other networks picked up, showing her greeting her colleagues and thanking them for their support.

Giffords sent this message on Twitter before the vote: "The #Capitol looks beautiful and I am honored to be at work tonight."

Giffords managed her own Twitter feed before the shooting, and the last tweet that she clearly wrote herself came Jan. 8. That morning, she wrote, "My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later."

It was minutes later at that event a gunman shot Giffords and 18 others. Six died from their wounds.

Since then, her account has been a steady stream of messages about her congressional office's activity, but they've been written and signed by staffers.