John Yarmuth: “Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is one of the kindest, most thoughtful and hardest working elected officials anywhere. It…”

“Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is one of the kindest, most thoughtful and hardest working elected officials anywhere. It is a shame that it took a despicable act to shine this bright spotlight on Gabby. She is what virtually every American would say they want in a Member of Congress--smart, open, friendly, intellectually honest, and very brave. She cares passionately about all of her constituents and, as she was demonstrating on Saturday, what they think. Speaker Boehner was absolutely correct when he said an attack on one Member of Congress is an attack on all, but Saturday's attack was more than an assault on a Congresswoman. It was an attack on American democracy. Gabby was doing what her job title implied--listening to her constituents at an event set up like hundreds before, conducting the business essential to effective representation. The attack on Giffords was an attack on them as well. Responsibility for this weekend's shooting in Tucson rests solely on the shoulders of the madman who pulled the trigger.”