Gabrielle Giffords

“I had planned to spend my 40s continuing my public service and starting a family. I thought that by fighting for the people I cared about and loving those close to me, I could leave the world a better place.”

“Rehab is endlessly repetitive. And it's never easy, because once you've mastered some movement or action or word, no matter how small, you move on to the next. You never rest.”

“I've been working hard: lots of therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, yoga too.”

“In the absence of a Congress ready to act to reduce gun violence, we will keep working to create a different Congress.”

“I strongly believe that crossing the aisle for the good of the American people is more important than party politics.”

“As gun owners, my husband and I understand that the Second Amendment is most at risk when a criminal or deranged person commits a gun crime. These acts only embolden those who oppose gun ownership. Promoting responsible gun laws protects the Second Amendment and reduces lives lost from guns.”

“I'm fighting hard to make the world a better place, and you can, too. Get involved with your community, be a leader, set an example, be passionate, be your best.”

“Speaking is physically difficult for me.”

“Every time guns fall into the wrong hands and are used to intimidate, injure, or murder women, it erodes the rights of responsible gun owners everywhere.”

“Expanding background checks will help create a uniform standard for all gun purchases and prevent criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from obtaining powerful weapons.”

“Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great, my right arm and leg are paralyzed, and I left a job I loved representing southern Arizona in Congress.”

“Countless hours of physical therapy - and the talents of the medical community - have brought me new movement in my right arm. It's fractional progress, and it took a long time, but my arm moves when I tell it to.”

“Music therapy was so important in the early stages of my recovery because it can help retrain different parts of your brain to form language centers in areas where they weren't before you were injured.”

“Even though many couples are choosing to marry later in life, our laws haven't been updated to address dating partner abuse.”

“Some might consider me an unlikely advocate for gun rights because I sustained terrible injuries in a violent shooting. But I'm a patriot, and I believe the right to bear arms is a definitive part of our American heritage.”

“My spirit is as strong as ever. I'm still fighting to make the world a safer place, and you can, too.”

“From Texas to New Hampshire and everywhere in between, we know that support for policies such as expanded background checks continue to be popular in both parties.”

“I was elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State Legislature and then in Congress.”

“Be passionate. Be courageous. Be your best.”

“Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets.”