Marietta, GA – Today, Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06) announced Senator Dr. Michelle Au will join her for President Biden’s joint address to Congress on Wednesday as her virtual guest. Dr. Au serves in the Georgia State Senate representing District 48, and she is also a physician and an equity partner at Physician Specialists in Anesthesia at Emory-St. Joseph's Hospital. The joint address, which is President Biden’s first speech to a joint session of Congress, marks 100 days into the President’s first term.
“One hundred days into this new administration, the American Rescue Plan is already making a difference in the lives of Sixth District residents, so many of whom have struggled during this pandemic. Senator Au has truly witnessed the challenges of this crisis up close,” McBath said. “Not only is she working hard to represent our community in the Georgia State Senate, she is also on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, working and volunteering her time to administer vaccinations. I am so proud to have her join me as my virtual guest to President Biden’s address and to amplify her story and the stories of so many essential workers.”
“It is an incredible honor to stand with my Congresswoman in support of this new administration which has, in its first hundred days, made bold and meaningful steps to improve the lives of the hardworking Georgians we represent,” Au said. “From allocating increased funding to community health centers, to vastly increasing our COVID-19 vaccine supply and delivery, to investing in the safe reopening of our schools and childcare centers, to dedicated financial relief to our hardworking families, the Biden Administration has already evinced a profound understanding of what our communities need most. And it is through the hard work of dedicated leaders like Congresswoman McBath that the American Rescue Plan passed, bringing real help and real hope to those we’ve been entrusted to serve.”
Senator Au was first elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2020 to represent District 48, which includes Duluth, Berkeley Lake, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Suwanee and Alpharetta. She is a second-generation Chinese-American whose parents immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. Senator Au received her M.D. at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and stayed on for residency training in both pediatrics and anesthesiology. She also holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Columbia University.
Senator Au and her family moved to Georgia in 2008, and works in Atlanta as an anesthesiologist. Her interests include enhancing quality healthcare access, improving public health communication, and focusing on social equity as a key determinant of community health. She and her husband live in Duluth with their three children.
In her first term in the Georgia State Senate, Senator Au has committed herself towards lessening the prevalence of gun violence in Georgia. She has proposed pieces of legislation that would extend universal background checks to private purchases and transfers of firearms and establish a five-day waiting period for firearms purchases. In the wake of the Atlanta spa shootings, Senator Au was also a vocal critic of a bill that would loosen restrictions on concealed carry licenses.
In Congress, Representative McBath is an original cosponsor of H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and a cosponsor of H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act. Earlier this month, she stood with President Biden at the White House as he announced landmark actions to end instances of gun violence and called on the Senate to take action on gun violence prevention legislation. McBath reintroduced H.R. 2377, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, the very same day.