This year, however, the first lady’s box will be most notable for who is not there: The White House will be leaving a seat empty at Tuesday’s event to honor people who have died due to gun violence.
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“We want to tell their stories and honor their memories”.
Every year, the White House invites a number of special guests to sit with the first lady.
“We want them to be seen and understood; that their absence means something to this country”, Obama said in a Friday conference call with supporters, according to The Hill. The list includes a higher minimum wage, expanded gun control laws, initiatives to help nonviolent offenders reintegrate into society and mandatory paid sick for certain workers.
“Their gestures only matter if it translates into action”, Obama said.
The White House announced that the president will visit Baton Rouge on Thursday, January 14th.
The annual State of the Union address is held to give the president chance to outline his legislative agenda for the coming months, and discuss national priorities.
In a nod to the early days of Obama’s first campaign, Edith Childs, of Greenville, South Carolina, and Vietnam veteran Earl Smith, of Austin, Texas, will both attend Tuesday’s address in the first lady’s guest box.
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In an op-ed in The New York Times this week, Obama had said the epidemic of gun violence in United States is a crisis.
