Gabby Giffords called on Congress to act swiftly to enact gun control today in an emotional appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The former congresswoman, who was shot in the brain with a Glock in an assassination attempt at a Tucson, Arizona, parking lot in 2011, read with difficulty from her prepared remarks. "Too many children are dying," she told her former Capitol Hill colleagues. "Too many children."

Giffords, who recently launched a new gun-control group, Americans for Sensible Solutions, was frank about her own struggles. "Speaking is difficult," she said, "but I need to say something important." She urged lawmakers to begin the hard work required of them: "You must act. Be be bold. Be courageous," she said. "Americans are counting on you."

Watch Giffords' full testimony in the clip below: