What they say in Congress

What does Gabrielle Giffords talk about when she talks? Arizona. Energy. Solar.

And Raúl Grijalva tend to talk more about the environment: Lands. River. Scenic.

A Web site called Capitol Words analyzed everything that each member of Congress entered in the Congressional Record to see what words are used most often by each member.

For Giffords, a Democrat representing Arizona’s 8th District, the top word was “Arizona.” No big surprise there. In the past year, she said “Arizona” 68 times in the Congressional Record.

The runners-up were “energy” (51 times) and “solar” (46 times). No surprise there, either. Solar energy is one of Giffords’ major issues.

In the past year, she’s also used the words “women,” “e-verify,” “gas,” “help” and “military” quite a few times. “John” also showed up a number of times, although it’s not clear why.

Tucson didn’t get a lot of love from Giffords. She mentioned it only 19 times in the Congressional Record in the past year.

For Grijalva, a Democrat representing the 7th District, “Arizona” was way down in 19th place over the past year. His most-used words were “lands,” “river” and public.” Grijalva is chairman of the House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.

Also high on Grijalva’s list were “scenic,” “conservation,” “land,” “resources,” “rivers” and “environmental.” He mentioned “Tucson” 25 times.

While Giffords was talking about “John,” Grijalva mentioned “Cele” 19 times. That probably was in reference to Tucson fashion icon Cele Peterson, who celebrated her 100th birthday this year. She was feted by both Grijalva and Giffords in the Congressional Record.

Nationwide, the most-used word in the past year was "energy." Capitol Words determined that Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, was one of the most-talkative members of Congress, with more than 39,000 words in the Congressional Record in the past 60 days. Rep. Edward Pastor, an Arizona Democrat, was among the quietest. He entered only 44 words in 60 days – fewer than one word per day.