Dems send messages to Trump with State of the Union guests
Several Florida Democrats are sending a message to President Donald Trump with the guests they’re bringing to his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
They’re emphasizing healthcare, particularly his backing away from his promise to take action to deal with an issue voter find critical: the high cost of prescription drugs.
They’re using constituents dealing with high medication costs to illustrate the problem.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Broward and MiamiDade counties, is hosting Emily Kaufman, 15, of Cooper City.
She’s an insulin dependent diabetic who faces what Wasserman Schultz’s office described as “obscene prescription costs [that] threaten her family’s financial security.”
“Emily had no control over the Type 1 diabetes disorder she will live with for the rest of life,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “Emily and her family deserve relief, and I hope President Trump sees her Tuesday night in the [House] chamber. She’s one of millions of Americans who need immediate protection from the outrageous costs of prescription drugs.”
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democrat from St. Petersburg, is also bringing Taylor McKenny, who has diabetes, to highlight the high insulin.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, who represents much of Palm Beach County, is bringing Annette Mayer, a South Floridian who works at an independent pharmacy, to illustrate the problem of prescription drug costs.
“Annette has seen the heartbreaking impact skyrocketing prescription drug costs have on American families,” Frankel said in a statement. “These out-ofcontrol prices are forcing Floridians to cut their pills in half or leave the pharmacy empty-handed at the expense of their health.”
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties, is bringing a guest with different health challenges.
Alan T. Brown was injured in 1988 at the age of 20 in an accident that caused a C5-6 spinal cord injury and left him a quadriplegic, with no feeling or movement below his chest. Brown, of Aventura, is director of public impact at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, where he works with the Paralysis Resource Center and helping people navigate life with spinal cord injuries.
When Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to “negotiate like crazy” to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. The Democratic-controlled House passed legislation last year cost of to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, but the president hasn’t moved to negotiate on the issue.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who represents Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, is highlighting a different issue.
The State of the Union has long been used as a backdrop for political statements, often when senators and representatives deliver uproarious applause for the president of their own party — and members of the opposite party clap tepidly or sit silently. But as respect for the presidency has declined in recent years, the annual address has evolved into an event that’s as much about making political statements as listening to the president.
Mucarsel-Powell is bringing Marsella Munoz, 16, a student researcher and scientific diver in training from Key West to highlight environmental protection and the threat from climate change.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, RFla., a fierce critic of the mainland Chinese government, is bringing Nathan Law, a Hong Kong democracy activist. Law is founding chairman of Demosistó, a youth activist group and was removed as a Hong Kong lawmaker under pressure from the Chinese government.