Here’s who the Alabama congressional delegation is bringing to the State of the Union
President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver his first State of the Union address Tuesday and the entire Alabama congressional delegation will be in attendance. Members of Congress are given one ticket to bring a guest to the annual event. Typically, members give the tickets to family members, staffers or constituents. Here’s a rundown of whom members of the Alabama delegation are taking as their guests: Sen. Richard Shelby: Shelby will be bringing his long-time friend, Steve Flowers, as his guest. Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers (including Alabama Today). He served 16 years in the state legislature. Sen. Doug Jones: Jones will be taking his wife, Louise Jones. Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne: Byrne will be accompanied by Pete Riehm from Mobile, Ala. Pete is a former Navy Surface Warfare Officer and now a businessman in the Mobile area. He is also a leader in the local veterans community. Alabama 2nd District U.S. Rep. Martha Roby: Roby will be taking her daughter, Margaret Roby. Margaret is taking Civics this year and is required to watch the State of the Union address for class, so Roby thought this would be a unique opportunity for her to witness it firsthand. Alabama 3rd District U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers: Mike’s wife, Beth Rogers, will be joining him for the evening. According to Rogers’ office, they’re both excited to support President Trump in his first SOTU! Alabama 4th District U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt: Yet to respond to request. Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks: Yet to respond to request. Alabama 6th District U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer: Palmer is bringing his wife Ann Palmer as his guest. Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell: Sewell will be accompanied by Mary Joyce Owens, the granddaughter of Recy Taylor. Alabama native Recy Taylor recently made headlines when Oprah Winfrey mentioned her in her in her Golden Globes speech. Taylor, who recently passed away, was an outspoken advocate for victims of sexual assault after being raped in 1944 by six white men who were never brought to justice. Sewell said the Democratic Women’s Working Group will be wearing all black in solidarity with the #MeToo movement and women CBC Members are inviting representatives to wear red Recy Taylor pins at the State of the Union. “Recy Taylor was an American shero and an Alabama treasure who spoke up in the face of racism, hate, and sexual violence,” said Sewell. “While she is no longer with us today, I think Recy Taylor would be proud to know that her granddaughter, Mary Joyce Owens, is attending the State of the Union in honor of her legacy and our ongoing fight against racism and sexual misconduct. By standing up to injustice over six decades ago, Recy Taylor inspired generations of men and women to hold perpetrators of sexual violence accountable. Mary Joyce Owens’ presence at the State of the Union is a symbol of the bravery of all those who are speaking out and a reminder that we will not be silent in the face of injustice.”
Richard Shelby, Gary Palmer petitioning FDA on behalf of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient
Two members of Alabama’s congressional delegation – Sen. Richard Shelby and Rep. Gary Palmer – have written the federal Food & Drug Administration on behalf of a Montgomery family whose son has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare degenerative disease. The pair of lawmakers hopes to amplify the voice of Scott and Tracy Griffin, whose son Gabe Griffin suffers from Duchenne as well as terrible side effects from a class of drugs call corticosteroids, which helps delay the worst muscular effects of the disease, but does not address the ailment’s causes. Shelby and Palmer are asking for a meeting with an FDA Commissioner with the Griffins in Washington, D.C. “Sadly, Gabe’s muscles will continue to deteriorate until he can’t walk, breathe or eat by himself,” Shelby wrote in a missive co-authored by Palmer. “Without access to new treatment, these devastating effects of Duchenne will impact Gabe well before he turns twenty years old.” “Gabe is currently prescribed FDA-approved steroids with side effects of stunted growth, extreme sensitivity to light, postponed puberty, and brittle bones. However these drugs do nothing to target the underlying problem, a missing protein, which causes Duchenne.” Towards the end of getting patient feedback directly to the agency about refining available drugs, Palmer said, a meeting is in order. Griffin is the eponym of the “Gabe Griffin Right to Try Act” signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley in June, which removes restrictions on the prescription of experimental drugs if willing patients sign a waiver which releases the state from liability. The Griffin family responded to an FDA public comment invitation earlier this summer, where according to a release from their foundation Hope for Gabe, they submitted remarks that reflect a range of views which include: Opposition to randomized placebo-controlled trials for Duchenne patients, with a reminder that the FDA’s own website states that ‘a child should not be deprived of a treatment in a clinical trial that is necessary for the child’s health;” A request for the FDA to use its authority to approve [experimental drugs] Eteplirsen and Drisapersen and accelerate the approval of subsequent and follow-on drugs using the same underlying approach; A request for the FDA to encourage an effort to collect and publish data regarding the size of different subgroups of patients within the Duchenne and related dystrophinopathy communities; and Support for the FDA’s authority to use “fewer, smaller, or shorter clinical trials for the intended patient population or targeted subpopulation without compromising or altering the high standards of the FDA for the approval of drugs.” Palmer formally requested a meeting for the Griffins with an FDA agent “at a mutually convenient time in the future.”
