Only seven months after Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords (@Rep_Giffords) was shot in the head during a meet and greet in Tucson, she made a surprising return to the House in early August to vote on the debt-ceiling bill. She walked into the chamber to a standing ovation, the first show of solidarity from Congress in months. Her appearance became the emotional backdrop to that day's vote, which passed the bill to raise the debt ceiling as a government shutdown loomed.