Three Pittsburghers invited to State of the Union address
WASHINGTON — One survived the Holocaust and, 75 years later, also survived the deadliest anti-Semitic attack on U.S. soil. Another is a police officer who was seriously wounded when he responded to the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. The third is a Transportation Security Administration agent who worked without pay during last month’s government shutdown.
All three Pittsburghers have been invited to Tuesday’s State of the Union address, at which guests aren’t just spectators but serve as symbols of the priorities of those who invited them.
Holocaust survivor Judah Samet, whose tardiness to a synagogue service on Oct. 27, 2018, possibly saved him from the Tree of Life massacre that took 11 of his friends, will sit in first lady Melania Trump’s box during the speech.
So will Officer Timothy Matson, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
confirmed, saying that his attendance is not political but in recognition of his lifesaving service. A bureau spokesman said Officer Matson is not ready to speak publicly, but the White House described him as a key member of the SWAT team with a dangerous role breaching entrances during raids.
TSA agent Monica Hughes of Penn Hills was invited by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., to highlight the human cost of the shutdown that he blames on the president.
“I am hopeful that her attendance will inspire others in Washington to remain committed to fighting for working families who depend on a functioning government,” Mr. Casey said in a statement.
His office contacted her after her emotional social media post on Jan. 24.
“Having to go to work and not know when I am going to get paid again has been a struggle that is beyond words,” she wrote on Facebook that day. “Families are struggling. Real people are struggling. This has got to end.”
She had just eaten at Peppi’s in Wilkinsburg, which gave her a free lunch when a worker there saw she was wearing a TSA uniform. The gesture made her emotional, as did the kindnesses of friends and strangers, including airport passengers who dropped off gift cards on their way through airport security checkpoints.
“I was so appreciative but at the same time I felt like I didn’t deserve it, and I wanted to share [on Facebook] that this shutdown is forcing able-bodied working people to take handouts,” she said in an interview Monday. “Here I am accepting a free meal, and kind of felt guilty about it.”
Guests like Mr. Casey’s contrast sharply with the administration guest list, highlighting the partisan divide over the president’s proposed border wall, which led to the 35-day government shutdown.
The president and lawmakers “use their guests to bolster their narrative and agenda. Sometimes the guests can make the argument or point better than they can,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan and co-author of “The State of the Union Is …: Memorable Addresses of the Last 50 Years.”
Several other Democrats also invited federal workers who either were furloughed or worked without pay during the shutdown.
Others invited refugees, immigrants who were separated from their children at the border, advocates for the Affordable Care Act, a climate scientist, Central American immigrants who were undocumented at the time they worked for Trump National Golf Club, transgender veterans, and parents of school shooting victims, according to news releases and published reports.
Republican lawmakers’ guests include border control agents, parents of a firefighter killed in a crash caused by an undocumented immigrant, parents of children who died of drug overdoses, the widow of the former Utah mayor who died in Afghanistan last year, and a human rights activist who survived sexual abuse by the Islamic State group.
Congressional members, particularly newer ones, sometimes invite relatives.
Ms. Trump’s guest list was released jointly by her office and the president’s press office.
Like last year’s list, it includes victims of crime at the hands of undocumented immigrants and business owners who benefit from Republican tax cuts.
Mr. Samet, who turns 81 on Tuesday, falls into neither camp.
He was already in Washington on Monday and could not be reached. Nephew Larry Barasch of Robinson said the White House didn’t indicate which of the president’s priorities Mr. Samet embodies.
Mr. Samet is a staunch — but not politically active — Republican in a family of Democrats that lent their support to federal workers during the shutdown by hiring federal workers for 123shirt.com, a small business that printed a line of “Stronger Than Hate” shirts and donated the proceeds to Tree of Life victims. One of the shirt slogans came from something Mr. Samet said in the days after the shooting: “Love is easier than hate.”
Mr. Samet, of Oakland, has described bullets whizzing past his car on the day of the shooting as he sat in the Tree of Life parking lot four minutes late for services but in time to see the shooter, whom he later described to investigators.
His family doesn’t agree with much of the president’s agenda but respects the office and proudly sent him off to Washington.
“It’s not often you get to see a family member at something like this,” Mr. Barasch said. “We’re proud of him, and this is like the ultimate birthday present for him.”
Other lawmakers representing Western Pennsylvania have invited these guests:
• U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R Pa. — John F. Malloy, president and CEO of Victaulic, the world’s largest manufacturer of mechanical joints for piping systems. Mr. Malloy received the Boy Scouts Distinguished Citizens Award for hosting an explorer post focused on the sciences.
• U.S. Rep. John Joyce, RBlair — Bruce Hottl, of Somerset County, owner of Eagle Concrete Products.
• U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, RButler — Joe Pfadt, veteran and president of Warriors to Washington who teaches high school civics in Harbor Creek.
• U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, DMt. Lebanon — Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
• U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters — His parents, Janice and Guy Reschenthaler.
• U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Centre — Bill Jones, president of Penn United Technologies.
• U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, DForest Hills, the longest serving Pennsylvania member, gave his ticket to freshman Mary Gay Scanlon, DMontgomery, so she could bring an additional guest to her first presidential address.