Arizona senators brought guests from Tucson to Trump’s State of the Union
KVOA
TUCSON – Arizona’s senators were at President Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday night and both Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema brought guests from right here in Tucson.
Senator Martha Mcsally brought Hope Harrison, the widow from Tucson whose husband was killed in a terrorist attack in Kenya last month.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema brought Major General Ted Maxwell, a former commander of the Air National Guard who lives in Tucson.
Hope’s Harrison’s husband Dustin and two others were killed by Somali militants in January.
Dustin and Hope have a 2-year-old daughter named Heaven.
Hope says she is happy that when her daughter is old enough to start grieving her father, she can look back on this moment.
“I hope he’s smiling down from heaven and proud of me.. It’s such an honor for what he did for us and our country,” Hope Harrison said. “This is just a drop in a bucket of what i can do for him.”
Senator McSally said she is honored to be joined by hope and says that the Arizona community has rallied around the family and she wants them to know that the nation stands behind them too.
“I wanted to make sure that we understood that Dustin’s service and Dustin’s sacrifice was just like those in the military putting his life on the line and giving his life to fight terrorism overseas,” said McSally.
Senator Sinema’s guest, Ted Maxwell, served in the air force for 34 years and now serves as the president and CEO of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.
“The state of the union is a once in a lifetime opportunity and when Senator Sinema reached out to me I knew I needed to go and be a part of this and its truly become something much more than I expected,” said Maxwell.
Maxwell retired back in 2018 and says it is important to him for Arizona leaders to stand up for service members and veterans and Senator Sinema’s commitment to the armed forces is greatly appreciated.
“Senator Sinema’s definitely willing to do whatever it takes and work with whoever she needs to work with to ensure that our men and women have what they need to train and protect our country,” said Maxwell.