Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., is being honored by the United States Navy on the same day that President Obama is signing the last piece of legislation she sponsored before being attacked by a gunman in Arizona.
“I am pleased to honor Gabrielle Giffords and the people of Arizona with the naming of this ship,” Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said today. “Giffords and the ship’s sponsor, Roxanna Green, are sources of great inspiration and represent the Navy and Marine Corps qualities of overcoming, adapting and coming out victoriously despite great challenges.”
Giffords retired from Congress this year so that she can focus on recovering from a wound sustained last year when a gunman attacked her at a townhall in Tucson, Ariz. The littoral combat ship that will bear her name, the Navy explained, will help in combat operations close to the short, such as anti-submarine warfare.
President Obama invited Giffords and her family to the Oval Office for the signing of the Ultralight Aaircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012. “This bill is the last piece of legislation that former Representative Gabrielle Giffords sponsored and voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives,” the White House explained. “Congresswoman Giffords’ bill gives law enforcement greater authority to combat illicit drug trafficking on the borders between the United States and Mexico and the United States and Canada.”
