Wednesday, July 27, 2016

WATCH: Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly At Democratic National Convention (TRANSCRIPT)

Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords took the podium - along with her husband and Space Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly - to bring her efforts to reduce gun violence to the Democratic National Convention.


Giffords and Kelly have been vocal proponents for universal background checks since a would-be assassin shot her in the head at a Congressional town hall event in Tucson in January 2011.

"Strong women get things done," Giffords said tonight about Hillary, though she could have also been talking about herself.

Here are their back-to-back speeches:

(Kelly) THANK YOU. AND YOU, EVERYONE. [CHEERS] IT IS SO GREAT TO BE HERE IN THE GREAT CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. I SPEAK YOU TONIGHT AS A PROUD SON OF TWO NEW JERSEY POLICE OFFICERS. [CHEERS] AS A VETERAN OF 39, MISSIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM, AND OF 25 YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY -- [CHEERS] AS A FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT WHO FLEW FOR MISSIONS INTO SPACE, MY DECADES AS A PILOT A MILITARY OFFICER AND ASTRONAUT GAVE ME A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON OUR WORLD. I SAW OUR COUNTRY AT ITS BEST. I ALSO SAW IT, HUMANITY, AT ITS WORST. FROM THE COCKPIT OF MY BASICS INTRUDER -- A-6 INTRUDER, I SAW AMERICA LEAD THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION THAT DEFEATED SADDAM HUSSEIN. I ALSO SAW THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF WAR ITSELF. FROM ORBIT, I SAW OUR PLANET AS A PERFECT BLUE MARBLE JUST LOADING IN THE BLACKNESS OF SPACE. -- FLOATING IN THE BLACKNESS OF SPACE. I ALSO SAW A RECEDING GLACIERS AND SHRINKING RAINFORESTS. AT WAR AND SPACE, I SAW THE AWESOME EXTENT OF AMERICAN POWER AND CAPABILITY. BUT IT WAS SO FRUSTRATING TO RETURN HOME AND SEE HOW WE STRUGGLE TO ADDRESS SOME OF OUR GREATEST CHALLENGES. JUST AS HILLARY IS PREPARED TO DO THE ISIS, ADVANCE OUR VALUES, AND PROTECT OUR FREEDOMS, HILLARY IS READY TO TAKE ON ONE OF OUR COUNTRIES GREATEST MORAL FAILURES HERE AT HOME, AND THAT IS THE GUN VIOLENCE THAT IS TEARING SO MANY OF OUR COMMUNITIES APART. [CHEERS] WE HAVE TO DO BETTER. AND HILLARY KNOWS WE CAN. HILLARY KNOWS THAT WE CAN SAVE LIVES BY DOING MORE TO KEEP GUNS OUT OF THE WRONG HANDS. AND WE KNOW THAT AS PRESIDENT, SHE WILL DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR OUR NATION, NOT WHAT IS POLITICALLY CORRECT -- POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT. [CHEERS] SHE WAS DEAD UP TO THE WASHINGTON GUN LOBBY THAT WORKS TO PROTECT THE SHAMEFUL STATUS QUO. IF WE WANT TO LEAVE OUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS A COUNTRY WITH LESS GUN VIOLENCE, NOT MORE, THEN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT HILLARY CLINTON IS OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. [CHEERS] NOW, I WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU TO SOMEBODY WHO IS WORKING TO DO JUST THAT. SOMEBODY WHO HAS TAUGHT ME EACH AND EVERY DAY TO DENY THEY SENTENCE OF FAILURE, SOMEBODY WHO DOES NOT GIVE UP AND SOMEBODY WHO BELIEVES, LIKE HILLARY DOES THAT WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER. MY WIFE, MY WIFE THE AWESOME CONGRESSWOMAN DEBBIE GIFFORDS. -- GABBY GIFFORDS. [CHEERS] (music) [CHEERS]

(Giffords) HELLO FELLOW DEMOCRATS! [CHEERS] WHAT A CROWD. [CHEERS] I'M HONORED TO BE HERE TODAY. WE HAVE IMPORTANT WORK AHEAD OF US. WORK THAT WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY. ARE YOU READY? [CHEERS] ARE YOU READY? [CHEERS] ARE YOU READY? [CHEERS] I'M READY. IN CONGRESS I LEARNED A POWERFUL LESSON. STRONG WOMEN GET THINGS DONE. [CHEERS] HILLARY IS TOUGH. HILLARY IS COURAGEOUS. SHE WILL FIGHT TO MAKE OUR FAMILIES SAFER. IN THE WHITE HOUSE, SHE WILL STAND UP TO THE GUN LOBBY, THAT IS WHY I AM VOTING FOR HILLARY. [CHEERS] COME JANUARY, I WANT TO SAY THESE TWO WORDS, MADAM PRESIDENT. [CHEERS] THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [CHEERS] (music)



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