Some suburbanites will be virtual State of the Union guests
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is preventing congressional representatives and senators from bringing guests to President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address, some Chicago-area residents will be virtual guests of the Illinois delegation.
Labor leader Pete Olson of Antioch will watch the speech as a virtual guest of U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Deerfield Democrat serving the 10th District.
Olson is the business representative for Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130 and president of the Lake County Building and Construction Trades Council. He was selected for the honor to bring attention to jobs being created through the recently enacted federal infrastructure improvement law.
"Our unions are ready to get to work, and I am happy to join Congressman Schneider for the State of the Union this year to hear what President Biden has to say about this historic investment in our infrastructure and job growth," Olson said in a news release from Schneider's office.
Crystal Lake resident Lauren Brundage will be the virtual guest of 14th District Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Naperville Democrat.
Brundage, a kindergarten teacher at Woods Creek Elementary School in Crystal Lake, has advocated for better family and medical leave policies in her school district and elsewhere, an Underwood spokeswoman said.
Those efforts led to policy change in her district's contract with teachers, the spokeswoman said.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat representing the 9th District, has invited Skokie resident Sima Quraishi, executive director of the Muslim Women Resource Center, as her virtual guest for the speech.
Quraishi's organization, based on Chicago's North Side, has helped resettle Afghan refugees in the area following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Chicago child care worker Laura Maldonado will observe the speech as a virtual guest of U.S. Rep. Marie Newman, a La Grange Democrat who represents the 3rd District but, following district boundary changes, is running for election in the 6th this year.
Maldonado supports the child care provisions in the economic stimulus and jobs legislation known as the Build Back Better Act. Newman voted for the legislation in November, and it passed the House.
"I am honored to serve as Congresswoman Newman's virtual guest to the State of the Union as we both share a collective vision for a high-quality, affordable child care system that is designed for parents to thrive in their communities," Maldonado said in a news release from Newman's office.
Source: Russell Lissau