House Speaker John Boehner's guests at Tuesday's State of the Union address will include parents, students and teachers from the Consortium of Catholic Academies, as well as community activists.
Boehner, R-Ohio, described the guests and their groups as going "above and beyond every day to give back, typifying the values of service and citizenship that the State of the Union tradition honors."
Among the guests, according to his office:
- Scott Ellsworth, President, Tipco Punch Co., Hamilton, OH. One of Speaker Boehner’s constituents, Scott is active with Business Leaders United – a business group founded by the National Skills Coalition – and is focused on training individuals to fill high-need jobs in the manufacturing industry. He collaborates with community colleges in establishing industry standards for training programs. Leaders like Scott are showing how improving our job-training programs – an approach taken in the House-passed SKILLS Act – is critical to empowering workers and fostering opportunity.
- Rebecca Rothstein, Co-Founder & President, Teen Cancer America and Simon Davies, Executive Director, Teen Cancer America. Teen Cancer America is the charity co-founded by recording artist Roger Daltrey, who performed at last October’s Capitol ceremony honoring Winston Churchill. The organization is dedicated to improving the lives of teenagers and young adults with cancer. The Teenage Cancer Trust was established in the UK 21 years ago and has made a significant impact. Teen Cancer America was recently launched to replicate this effort in the United States. Boehner’s decision to focus attention on teen cancer during the State of the Union address was driven in part by the recent experiences of some of his own constituents.
- Sally Ann Zoll, CEO of United Through Reading. Founded in 1989, United Through Reading is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public benefit organization with a mission to unite military families facing physical separation. United Through Reading facilitates the opportunity for deployed parents to be recorded reading storybooks to their children. This helps to ease the stress of separation, maintains positive emotional connections, and cultivates a love of reading. More than 1.5 million military parents, spouses, and children have benefited from the program since its inception.