Ohio members make points with choice of guests for State of the Union

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes may be new to Congress, but the Akron Democrat followed an old tradition during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Speech on Tuesday night: inviting a guest to make a political point.

Sykes’ guest at the speech was Pamela Walker, the mother of 25-year-old Jayland Walker, who was fatally shot by police in Akron last summer.

Sykes noted that Congress passed bipartisan legislation last December to help fund police de-escalation train- ing and that Biden issued an executive order last year to establish a National Law Enforcement Accountabil- ity database. Her statement pledged to keep fighting “for a criminal justice system that is transparent, account- able, and keeps us all safe.”

Sykes wasn’t alone in making a political point with her chosen guest for the State of the Union.

Newly-elected U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Repub- lican, invited a family friend who lost her son to the drug epidemic.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, invited Andrea Neutzling, an Army veteran who suffers from multiple lung diseases, including constrictive bronchiolitis, due to toxic burn pit smoke exposure while deployed to Iraq.

She has previously spoken in favor of a law adopted last year with Brown’s backing that requires the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs to provide disability benefits and care for toxic-exposed veterans, including an estimated 3.5 million post-9/11 combat veterans like Neutzling who were poisoned by burn pits.

Last year, when U.S. Congress members weren’t allowed to have guests at the speech because of coronavirus, Biden invited Danielle Robinson of Columbus, the wife of an Ohio National Guard member who died after being exposed to burn pits, as one of his guests.

He also invited Intel CEO Patrick “Pat” Gelsinger, whose company is building a semiconductor chip manufacturing plant outside Columbus. His speech highlighted both initiatives.

Columbus Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Dayton native, announced her guest was to be Regina Wallace Jones, CEO of the ActBlue online political fundraising platform for Democrats.

Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman was either bringing his wife to the speech or letting a colleague use his ticket, his press spokesman said.

That doesn’t mean Jordan opposes using his ticket to make political points.

T he year after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide, Jordan gave his ticket to a county clerk from Kentucky who was jailed after she refused to grant marriages to gay people on religious grounds.

Some Ohio Congress members were bringing their spouses to the speech.