Rick Scott brings Florida mother advocating for Israeli hostages to State of the Union

As President Joe Biden is set to deliver his state of the union address on Thursday, lawmakers will be making political statements with who they decide to bring as their guests.

For U.S Senator Rick Scott, he’s decided to bring a South Florida mother who’s been an advocate for the hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.

According to Scott’s website, Nathaly Haratz Kaswan has been raising awareness about the hostages through the Milk Carton Project, an initiative between nonprofit organizations Kidnapped from Israel and Loving Moms United. The project exhibited 10-foot-tall milk cartons across Miami and Miami Beach that had photos and information about the hostages, emulating the tactic from the 80’s when photos of missing children were put on milk cartons.

Scott said in a statement on X that he’s “honored” to have her as his guest.

“Following the October 7th attack when Iran-backed Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed more than 1,400 innocent people, including at least 32 Americans, and taking an unknown number of Israelis and Americans hostage, Nathaly’s group answered the call to stand up against terrorism,” said Scott.

Haratz Kaswan said she’s “grateful” for the work that Scott has done to bring attention to the issue.

“Hamas has launched a brutal attack against my Jewish brothers and sisters, and I won’t stop fighting to raise awareness until every hostage taken by Hamas is safely back home,” said Haratz Kaswan.

Scott said that he has his own milk carton from the project on display at his office in Washington and that he will continue to call for action on the situation until it’s resolved.

“I am proud to see Floridians like Nathaly fight for them every day. I’ll never stop talking about these hostages until they are home, and I urge the President to follow our lead and do the same,” said Scott.