Not many, if any, members of Congress have a story like that of Rep. Jackie Speier, who was just elected to a full term in the House with 75% of the vote in California's 12th District.

Speier, who had won an April special election to serve the remaining term of the late Tom Lantos, represents the same district as her former boss, Rep. Leo Ryan, who was gunned down 30 years ago on a Guyana tarmac helping Jonestown defectors escape.

Speier was shot five times and survived, and today she recounts her experience in detail in the San Francisco Chronicle.