WASHINGTON -- Marcelas Owens, the Seattle fifth grader-cum-health care lobbyist, will be one of a dozen people to join President Obama at the signing table Tuesday morning when he turns the historic health-reform bill into law.

Others invited to the stage in the East Room include Vicki Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Here is Marcelas's bio issued by the White House:

In the past couple weeks, Seattle 5th grader Marcelas has become a nationally recognized spokesperson for health care reform in honor of his mother. She died because she didn't get the health care she needed after she got sick, lost her job and her health insurance. The day after his 11th birthday, Marcelas headlined a press conference in Washington, DC with Senate leaders. Marcelas' message to Congress was simple: "Finish health care reform. No other kid should lose their mom because they don't have health care." Marcelas' mom, Tifanny, worked as a restaurant manager and had health insurance. In September of 2006, she got really sick. Her doctors struggled to diagnose her illness, and Tifanny worked as long as she could while getting more and more sick. She would sometimes miss work because she was too sick and eventually, she had lost so much work that she lost her job, and along with her job went her health insurance. Without health insurance, Tifanny faced a barbaric choice - put food on the table for her kids or go to expensive doctors appointments that, without her job, she could no longer afford. At one hospital stay, Tifanny was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension, but because she no longer had health insurance she was not able to afford the ongoing proactive treatment that she needed to go to battle with a tough disease. According to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, while many Pulmonary Hypertension patients go too long without an accurate diagnosis, some receive prompt, effective treatment and are able to manage their disease for 20+ years. In June of 2007, Tifanny died at the age of 27, leaving Marcelas and his two younger sisters without a mom. Marcelas shares his story as a way to continue his mother's fight for health care reform and to ensure that no other kid loses their mom or someone they love because they don't have affordable health care.