Biden Lauds PA Man During State Of The Union Address

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden acknowledged Pennsylvania steelworker Joseph "JoJo" Burgess during his State of the Union address Tuesday as Burgess watched the speech from first lady Jill Biden's viewing box.

Burgess, of Washington PA, introduced Biden during an event last month at Mill 19 in Pittsburgh in which the president discussed the urgency for infrastructure investment and more manufacturing in America.

Biden noted that the 369,000 manufacturing jobs created across the country last year are "powered by people I've met like JoJo Burgess, from generations of union steelworkers in Pittsburgh, who's here with us tonight."

Burgess is a new employer organization trainer with United Steelworkers Local 1557 who works at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh.

According to The White House, Burgess is the son of two former steelworkers and a U.S. Army veteran who participated in Operation Desert Storm. His son recently became a third-generation steelworker.

Among those joining Burgess in the viewing box were second gentleman Douglas Emhoff; the president's sister, Valerie Biden Owens; and Oksana Markarova, the Ukranian ambassador to the United States.

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