WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio and Ohioans were in the spotlight during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Calling it “literally a field of dreams,” the president cited the Intel semiconductor manufacturing complex under construction in Licking County as an example of the success of bipartisan efforts to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. and eliminate supply chains problems that impacted the economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Buckeye football player Harry Miller, who left football to prioritize his mental health was among the featured guests sitting with first lady Jill Biden during the speech. Saria Gwin-Maye of Cincinnati, an ironworker who will work on the federally supported revitalization of the Brent Spence Bridge, was another guest of the first lady.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) invited Regina Wallace-Jones, president and CEO of ActBlue, to attend the address as her guest.
Rock star Bono, the family of Tyre Nichols and the 26-year-old who disarmed a gunman in last month’s Monterey Park, California, shooting were also among the featured guests sitting with the first lady.
The White House says the guests were invited because they personify issues or themes President Joe Biden addressed in the speech, or they embody policies that are working for the American people.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, was a guest, as she was last year.
It was Biden’s first speech to Congress since Republicans took control of the House in the midterm elections and he exhorted Republicans in his State of the Union address to work with him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation.
He used his address Tuesday night to reassure a country beset by pessimism and fraught political divisions and offer a positive assessment of the nation’s condition rather than rolling out flashy policy proposals.
Reactions to the speech among Ohio lawmakers was divided along party lines.
“The result of Joe Biden’s term thus far has been widespread misery across the nation,” said Republic Sen. J.D. Vance. “Ohioans know we are worse off today than we were two years ago, and we know Joe Biden is responsible. Nothing the President said tonight will change this reality.”
“The President shared how he has delivered For the People across the country and right here in Central Ohio with historic investments…Still, as President Biden mentioned this evening, our work is not over yet. At a time when our freedoms – from voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, to civil rights – are under attack, the President will continue to work with Congress to advance legislation that ushers forth an agenda toward a more equitable and just America for all,” Beatty said.
Biden declared that America is “unbowed, unbroken” in the face of the pandemic and economic threats.