Giffords recites Pledge of Allegiance at convention

The former congresswoman walked onto the stage accompanied by her close friend US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (JTA) — Gabrielle Giffords recited the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention.

The former US congresswoman from Arizona walked onto the stage Sept. 6 accompanied by her close friend US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, to extended cheers and cries of “Gabby!”

Giffords was shot in the head by Jared Loughner in January 2011 in an attack at a Tucson constituent meeting that left six people dead.

Giffords, who left the House of Representatives to continue her rehabilitation following the shooting, and Wasserman Schultz are the first Jewish women elected to Congress from their respective states.