Some congressmen made their way to the the House Chamber to attend the State of the Union through their underground train. (Audrey Cheng/Medill)
Ambar Pinto Gomez, an undocumented student from Northern Virginia Community College, attended the State of the Union as the guest of Sen. Mark Warner, R-Va. She said she is listening for immigration reform to come up in Obama’s speech. “Hopefully [I’ll] hear that we have some [legislation passed] by the summer of this year,” she said. (Stephanie Yang/Medill)
State of the Union guests Dan and Matthew Gross make their way to the House Chamber Tuesday for President Barack Obama’s speech. (Stephanie Yang/Medill)
“We look forward to the president talking about gun violence and what we can do to prevent it, said Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “He’s been amazingly committed to this issue so far in his second term, and we expect him to expand on that tonight in a very focused and meaningful way.” (Stephanie Yang/Medill)
One man on his way to the State of the Union said he hopes the president’s address will bring unity to the parties. “Well they say he is going to pivot back to the economy and jobs, but he pivots every year to the economy and jobs,” he said. “I hope that he says something that will resonate to both sides so we can come together and get something done.” (Ashley Balcerzak/Medill)
Lauren Sils, assistant to Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del. said,
“I hope that Obama really sets the tone for the agenda in the next four years. I hope he is enthusiastic with his goals of immigration reform and gun control.” (MNS)
Medill on the Hill teamed up with Northwestern News Network in Evanston to produce a package of stories covering President Barack Obama's seventh and final State of the Union address. The two newsrooms collaborated across time zones to produce a three-hour broadcast and more than a dozen print and digital reports. Check out our broadcast here.
CYBERSECURITY
In a series of investigative reports, Medill on the Hill reporters uncovered threats to privacy and security in the digital age ranging from the safety of your online campaign donations to how computer hacking could impact food safety.