Hamas hostage from Chapel Hill to be honored at State of the Union. See the NC guests.

Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd are honoring a Hamas hostage from Chapel Hill by hosting his family at Thursday night’s State of the Union address.

And even more North Carolinians will be in attendance as President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the U.S. Capitol. Two will attend as Biden’s guests. A Charlotte nurse will also be on his guest list.

At least three more will be guests of Reps. Alma Adams, Valerie Foushee and Don Davis.

Tillis and Budd announced their plans Wednesday to combine their individual invitations to bring two members of the Siegel family to the event.

Keith Siegel, a native of Chapel Hill who moved to Israel, was captured with his wife, Adrienne “Aviva” Siegel, by Hamas on Oct. 7. Aviva was later released during a humanitarian cease-fire, but Keith remains captive.

Siegel’s sister, Lucy, and niece, Hanna, accepted Tillis and Budd’s invitations to attend Biden’s speech.

“It is my honor to host the family of North Carolina native Keith Siegel at the State of the Union,” Budd said. “The American people cannot forget that six of our fellow citizens are still being held hostage by Hamas terrorists for more than 150 days.”

Budd vowed to keep fighting to get the Americans released and returned to their families.

“It is an honor to partner with Senator Budd to invite the Siegel family to this year’s State of the Union,” Tillis said. “While it’s a great relief that Aviva has been released, we are still working to secure Keith’s freedom from Hamas captivity.”

The Bidens’ guests

President Joe Biden plans to deliver the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress Thursday night at 9 p.m. Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama, will offer her party’s rebuttal.

Among Biden’s guests Thursday night are two North Carolinians: Tiffany Zoeller, of Fayetteville and Steven Hadfield, of Matthews.

Zoeller is married to a service member and works as a medical coder at Fort Liberty’s Womack Army Medical Center. She introduced Biden, in June 2023, at Fort Liberty, when Biden announced an executive order that offered career support to military spouses.

Hadfield has a rare blood cancer and is diabetic, according to the White House. His $15,000-per-month costs for blood cancer medication and $400 per month for insulin kept him from retirement. But the White House said that the Inflation Reduction Act allowed Medicare to cover his insulin prescriptions with a $35 copay cap and his blood cancer medication is now capped at about $3,500.

Also sitting with the first lady will be Levine Cancer Nurse Kris Blackley.

Blackley, a resident of Fort Mill, South Carolina, is a 30-year oncology nurse and serves as director of patient navigation. She and Jill Biden first met last month when the first lady visited Atrium’s Charlotte campus to bring awareness to Cancer Moonshot, a program looking to cut down on the number of deaths from cancer and improve the experience of those with cancer.

Blackley spoke with Jill Biden then about her team’s work educating patients about their disease process, treatments, ensuring scheduling is done in a timely manner and patients are given the best care possible. They also try to help patients navigate finances, transportation and other barriers that might get in the way of care.

Blackley told McClatchy Thursday afternoon that she first learned she was invited to the State of the Union through an email and thought it was spam. But comparing the email address to other communications her department had received from the White House, she responded to it and was on the phone with White House staff within minutes.

Blackley was able to bring her husband to Washington and they will attend a dinner at the White House before she departs for the Capitol to watch the speech.

“He and I just keep looking at each other like, is this actually happening?” Blackley said. “I mean, this is really a dream for me to be able to come and have a larger platform to be able to talk about patient navigation and all the benefits that we provide and also talk a little bit about all the wonderful services that we have at Levine Cancer.”

Gun violence and community safety

Both Adams and Foushee invited guests looking to reduce gun violence in their communities.

Adams, a Democrat from Charlotte, invited Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden.

McFadden is a 37-year veteran of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and one of the most decorated officers in the department’s history, according to Adams. He became the county’s first African American sheriff in 2018.

Adams announced the invitation in a news release Thursday saying that she supports Biden’s effort to reduce gun violence and access to weapons for young people and is bringing McFadden to highlight his “forward-focused efforts” to reduce gun violence. She praised his ability to reduce youth violence and forge community partnerships, adding that it’s a model the rest of the nation should follow.

McFadden, who is part of Biden’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, said in a written statement he’s committed to “continue fighting the gun violence and fentanyl epidemic — both which we know have claimed one too many lives — and championing mental health initiatives.”

Foushee, a Democrat from Hillsborough, invited gun violence prevention activist Lavern Lucier. Lucier’s son, Syncere Burrell, died in a shooting in December 2020. Since then, Lucier has fought to keep guns from coming into her community and build relations between residents and local law enforcement.

“People like Lavern Lucier truly exemplify the work Democrats are doing to fight for everyday Americans, and I applaud her commitment to making our schools, neighborhoods, and streets a safer place for our children,” Foushee said.

“We cannot continue to let gun violence take away our loved ones,” Lucier said in a written statement. “We urgently need sensible federal legislation against gun violence to save lives, keep families together, and protect the people in our communities.”

Davis, a Democrat from Snow Hill, invited 109-year-old Cassie Smith as his guest. Smith lives in Battleboro.