Since her swearing-in Congresswoman Giffords has been a co-sponsor of 14 House Resolutions and has addressed the House five times.
The first six House Resolutions were part of the Democrats’ “1st Hundred Hours” push. She co-sponsored resolutions to implement the 911 Report, raise the minimum wage, permit human embryonic stem cell research, require government negotiation of drug prices for Medicare recipients, reduce interest rates on student loans, and to develop alternative energy resources and emerging energy technologies.
The details on these votes and the eight other resolutions she co-sponsored are available here.
The Arizona Capitol Times has a long interview with Congresswoman Giffords. Here are two excerpts:
What are the main issues affecting your constituents in southern Arizona?
Being one of 10 U.S. Mexico border districts, certainly the impacts of immigration are greatly important to the 8th Congressional District. We're basically carrying the burden. We know it because of our first responders - issues in terms of law enforcement, also our hospitals and our schools. The federal government needs to step up and take responsibility. Immigration is a top priority for the district.
The district also has two very important military installations. Fort Huachuca, which houses the Army Intelligence Center, which is becoming increasingly important as we fight issues pertaining to international terrorism. We also have Davis-Monthan, a very large and important Air Force base. Southern Arizona is home to one of the largest veteran populations. We need to make sure that the men and women who sacrificed to serve our nation are taken care of. So that's a big area of concern.
Also, I have to mention the University of Arizona - our economic driver, in terms of keeping global competitiveness at the forefront - making sure that we graduate engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and technical people that continue to help lead the United States into this 21st century and our global economy.
You were recently appointed, as you mentioned, to the House Armed Services Committee. What would you like to see happen with the U.S. military in Iraq?
I support a strategic redeployment plan. The president convened the Baker Hamilton bipartisan working group that set forth recommendations of how we should be dealing with the situation in Iraq. I believe that we should be following those recommendations.
I hope to travel to Iraq in the near future to have a chance to spend time with constituents, with not only folks from my district but the leadership to get a better understanding about the challenges we face. I also believe that we need to focus on Afghanistan. We are losing ground. The al Qaeda terrorists that attacked the United States were trained and had real ties to Afghanistan.
And, last, a short housekeeping note. I’ve re-established a second version of The Data Port, cleverly named Data Port Two. That’s where I’ll post all the non-political stuff so it doesn’t clutter up righteous lefty haranguing.The first post is up here
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