To read more on this story, see CNN affiliates KVOA and KGUN. Also, read a grand jury's indictment of suspect Jared Lee Loughner.
Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was able to stand with assistance on Wednesday, an aide said, with her doctor adding that the congresswoman has the strength to stand on her own.
"Today we were getting her out of bed again and we were able to stand with assistance," said Dr. Peter Rhee, Tucson's University Medical Center's trauma chief. "She's got the strength to stand on her own, lift her head up and these ... I see improvements every single day."
Rhee was speaking to CNN affiliate KVOA.
Giffords' chief of staff, Pia Carusone, told CNN Wednesday that Giffords had stood Wednesday "with assistance."
A federal grand jury in Tucson indicted Jared Lee Loughner on three charges of attempted murder on Wednesday.
His office confirmed the decision in a statement circulated ahead of a news conference in Stamford.
"The reason I have decided not to run for re-election in 2012 is best expressed in the wise words from Ecclesiastes: 'To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven,"' Lieberman said in prepared remarks.
"At the end of this term, I will have served 24 years in the U.S. Senate and 40 years in elective office. For me, it is time for another season and another purpose under Heaven," he said.
While Lieberman's hawkish views on the military and the Iraq war rankled some Democrats, his support for gay rights and abortion rights won him the praise of many liberals.
Lieberman, 68, nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with running mate Al Gore in 2000 and mounted an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2004.
He was defeated the last time he ran for the Democratic Senate nomination in Connecticut, in 2006, but won a new term running as an independent in a three-way race.
Top Democrats such as Obama and then-Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd who had supported Lieberman in the 2006 primary instead backed Democratic nominee Ned Lamont in the fall general election. Lieberman was disappointed that some old friends weren't loyal to him.
In the years since, he aligned himself with Democrats in the Senate, who permitted him to head a committee in return. Yet in 2008 he supported McCain.
Lieberman's decision to speak at the 2008 GOP presidential nominating convention angered Democrats, and the speech he gave contrasting Obama, then a first-term senator from Illinois, and McCain angered them more.
"In the Senate, during the 3-1/2 years that Sen. Obama has been a member, he has not reached across party lines to ... accomplish anything significant, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party to get something done," Lieberman said at the time.
Lieberman's poll ratings in his home state had slipped in recent years, encouraging Democratic challengers and sparking speculation about the senator's retirement. Dodd recently retired from the Senate.
Hours before Lieberman's plans became public, former Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said she would run in 2012 for Lieberman's seat.
Reps. Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney are considering a run. Republican Linda McMahon is also seen as a potential challenger, despite losing her Senate bid last year against Democrat Richard Blumenthal.
"Over the past few months, people from across Connecticut whose advice I respect have encouraged me to consider a Senate run," Courtney said in a statement. "I am seriously considering that challenge."
After the 2008 election and at Obama's urging, Senate Democrats decided not to punish Lieberman for supporting the GOP ticket. They voted to let him keep his post as leader of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Obama was eager to strike a bipartisan tone for his presidency.
Two years ago, some state Democrats wanted to censure Lieberman for his actions. Ultimately, he was sent a stern letter. Since that time, he has had scant interaction with the party.
Lieberman told The Associated Press last month that he was considering whether to seek another term in the Senate.
"It's a difficult decision for me because I really have loved my service here in the Senate, and I feel privileged to be here," he said. "I guess the question is - and I think you've always got to ask is - `Now, after 22 years, 24 years after this term is over, do I want to do it again? Or, do I want to try something else?' That's the question you've got to answer."
Five weeks after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Lieberman was one of the first politicians to call for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and he was a staunch supporter of the military invasion of Iraq.
As chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Lieberman led the efforts to create the Department of Homeland Security.
Lieberman gained national attention in 1998 when he gave a politically explosive speech on the Senate floor criticizing President Bill Clinton, his friend of many years and a fellow centrist Democrat, over the Monica Lewinsky affair.
January 19, 2011Elusive Answers on Health Law
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January 19, 2011The Debt Limit Brawl
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bill clinton newt gingrich sarah palin al sharpton bill oreilly
What's behind the push for repeal?
Simple: It's a campaign promise that House Republicans are trying to honor.
During the runup to the midterm elections, Republicans campaigned heavily on repealing and replacing the law. They cited the "will of the people" -- noting that voters, especially members of the Tea Party movement, overwhelmingly rejected the Democrats' policies.
After their historic gains in the midterms, Republicans now control the House and hold a large number of seats in the Senate, and they are living up to that promise. The GOP has been saying that the law as currently written will hamper prospects for long-term economic growth while doing little to slow spiraling medical costs.
House Speaker John Boehner, who used to refer to the bill as a "jobs killer," now says that repealing the "job-crushing" health care law is critical to boosting small business job creation and growing the economy, reflecting sensitivities in the wake of the mass shooting this month in Tucson, Arizona, that critically injured a Democratic colleague, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.