U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez — the first-ever Latina to be elected to Congress from the Midwest — will deliver the Working Families Party’s sixth annual response to President Joe Biden’s upcoming State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

“I will be laying out a vision for how Democrats can win working-class voters of all races and nationalities by fighting for a government that has working people's backs,” Ramirez tweeted. 

The WFP announced on Friday, Feb. 3, that the first-term Democrat will address President Biden’s speech and counter Republican responses from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Arizona Rep. Juan Ciscomani. 

The response will be in both Spanish and English. 

“Delia knows the struggles that working people face because she’s lived them,” said Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell. 

“We’re thrilled to have Delia speak about how Democrats can show working families they have their backs on the issues that matter most—including the costs of housing, healthcare, child care — as well as fighting to defend our basic freedoms from right-wing attacks,” she added. 

Rep. Rashida Tlaib responded to the State of the Union Addresses in 2022, Rep. Jamaal Bowman in 2021, Rep. Ayanna Pressley in 2020, former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in 2019, and former U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards in 2018. 

“President Biden and my fellow Democrats in Congress have two tasks,” said Ramirez. “First, we must stand up to the MAGA extremists threatening to destroy our economy and basic freedoms. Social Security, Medicare, abortion rights, and comprehensive immigration reform are not political talking points. They’re essential to our nation’s well-being.” 

“We must also show working people how Democrats will deliver for them if they put us back in the majority. That’s our path to a working families majority in Congress,” she added. 

The WFP’s announcement comes a day after House speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Sanders as the pick for the GOP’s response, calling her, “a servant-leader of true determination and conviction. 

“I’m thrilled Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday,” he said. 

Ramirez called the Sanders pick as Republicans “doubling down” on their “extremism,” and cited her record as White House Press Secretary and now as Arkansas’ governor. 

“That gives Democrats an opportunity — if we can seize it,” Ramirez added.

Sanders, who served as Trump’s second of four total White House Press Secretaries, admitted later to lying to reporters regarding internal opposition to former FBI director, James Comey during the investigation of Russian election interference in 2016 as well as connections between the former president and Moscow.

Ramirez will also call on the Biden administration to take executive action on certain issues such as drug pricing and expanding eligibility to make more workers eligible for overtime pay. 

With the GOP in control of the House and Democrats having a small majority in the Senate, they will block most attempts to pass progressive policies. 

The WFP, a liberal organization, chose Ramirez, the daughter of immigrants and wife of a DACA recipient, and former director of a homeless shelter. 

United Working Families, WFP’s partner organization in Illinois, helped elect Ramirez to the state legislature, becoming the first Guatemalan-American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly. 

Ramirez was the Assistant Majority Leader and co-founded the Illinois House Progressive Caucus. She passed state legislation to codify Roe vs. Wade, expanded affordable housing, gave Medicaid to citizens over 42 no matter immigration status, and restored an elected school board in Chicago.

In 2022, WFP helped Ramirez and five others win in competitive Democratic primaries including Greg Casar (TX-35), Summer Lee (PA-12) Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), and Becca Balint (VT). 

Details on how to tune in to the response can be found here: https://www.mobilize.us/workingfamilies/event/548859/?utm_source=socialmedia