Giffords says she will return to Congress when she is ‘better’

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), exuding joy and hope but limited to abrupt, one-word sentences, let it be known that she will not return to Congress until her condition improves.

“Better,” Giffords said repeatedly to ABC’s Diane Sawyer during her first public interview since being shot in the head during a constituent meet-and-greet in January.

With the help of Sawyer and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, the thought was fleshed out and Giffords was asked whether she meant she wanted to get better before she returned to her former job.

{mosads}”Yes,” Giffords repeated three times during an astonishing interview that revealed a woman committed to making a full recovery, but a long way off from being able to communicate the way she did as a three-term member of the House.

Giffords’s political future has been put on hold ever since a gunman opened fire at an event in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 8, killing six people, wounding 12 others and forcing Giffords to relearn how to walk and speak.

Republicans say they won’t contest the race if Giffords decides to run again; she vows in a new book to get stronger and return to Congress, but does not indicate whether that will be in 2012 or in the longer term.

Meanwhile, speculation that Giffords might run for Arizona’s open Senate seat was dampened last week when former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona entered the Democratic primary with the help of Giffords’s longtime campaign director.

The ABC segment gave Americans the first extended look into the grueling, frustrating and touching recovery and rehabilitation process Giffords has undergone in the 10 months since she became a national symbol of triumph over divisiveness and adversity.

Asked how things had progressed since the incident, Giffords revealed an ability to speak volumes with just the few words she was able to muster.

“Pretty good.… Difficult. Strong, strong, strong.”