Family Re-Union Media Advisory


THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President



***** MEDIA ADVISORY *****

VICE PRESIDENT GORE AND TIPPER GORE TO MODERATE
SEVENTH ANNUAL FAMILY POLICY CONFERENCE IN NASHVILLE

Conference to Focus on Families and Health

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In their seventh annual conference on policyissues of major concern to families and children, Vice President Gore andTipper Gore will moderate "Family Re-Union 7: Families and Health" atVanderbilt University on June 22-23, 1998.

"Every year, Tipper and I look forward to the chance to engagefamilies and those that care for them in a national conversation about acritical issue," the Vice President said. "We know families want to befull partners in their health care, but instead they sometimes feelabandoned in the waiting room, or shut out of the system.

"Families have a special responsibility to children and to theelderly, and too often they don't know how to find quality care or accessto information about health issues," the Vice President added. "Thisconference will help us all explore successful strategies for overcomingthese barriers."

Mrs. Gore added, "We know that involved families can often play aneffective, and sometimes crucial role in the recovery of a loved one. I amespecially concerned that families, particularly young children, haveaccess to quality and affordable mental health care.

"We also need to address the stigma associated with mental illnessthat has, for too long, prevented families from seeking adequate care," shesaid. "Parents can and should be the real experts in their children'shealth and well-being and we hope to address ways that we can involve themmore closely in the health care decisions that affect everyone in thefamily."

The announcement was made by the Office of the Vice President andconference co-sponsors Representative Bill Purcell, Executive Director ofthe Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt University, and Dr. MarthaFarrell Erickson, Director of the Children, Youth & Family Consortium ofthe University of Minnesota.

The conference agenda and participants will be announced in earlyJune. Family Re-Union 7: Families and Health will give families, medicalpersonnel, community program directors, and health care experts anopportunity to share their experience and make recommendations to local,state and national policy makers. Organizers expect an audience of morethan 1000 in Nashville, and thousands more through live satellitebroadcasts. Family Re-Union 7 will follow a format that seeks to "reinvent" familypolicy so that it reflects today's realities. Past conference topics haveincluded strengthening the role of fathers in children's lives, the impactof the media culture on children, the delicate balance between work andfamily, and family involvement in education.

Each conference culminates a year of planning that brings togetherexperts and academics in the field along with program leaders andindividual family members. They engage in a dialogue that includes crucialprogrammatic and policy issues and outcomes. For example, past familyconference outcomes have included:

Past participants in the Gores' family conferences have includedPresident Clinton; First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton; Secretary of Healthand Human Services Donna Shalala; Secretary of Education Richard Riley; theReverend Jesse Jackson; Carol Rasco, former domestic policy adviser to thePresident; actor Tom Selleck; and Grammy-award winning artist Garth Brooks.



What's New - June 1998

National Ocean Conference

Equal Pay Act

Family Re-Union Conference

Portland State University Commencement

Ocean Conference

South Asia

Thurston High School Remarks

National Ocean Conference

Presidential Scholars

Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act

ISTEA Legislation

SAVER Summit

Speaks to DLC

National Ocean Conference, Plenary Session

New Efforts to Protect Our Oceans

The Opening of the Thoreau Institute

Oceans Announcements

Fight Against Drugs

Welcoming Ceremony in Xian, China

Korean President Kim Dae Jung

Roundtable Discussion in Xiahe, China

President Kim of South Korea

Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act

21st Century Community Learning Grants

Pritzker Awards Dinner

Nominations of Bill Richardson and Richard Holbrooke

Remarks to Religious Leaders

Family Re-Union Media Advisory

Meeting With Economic Advisors

Conference Address

A Fair, Accurate Census

New Data On Teen Smoking

Roundtable Discussion Remarks

Landmark Agricultural Bill

Conference Remarks

Denver Broncos, Super Bowl Champions

Family Re-Union Press Release

U.S.-China Relations in the 21st Century

Roundtable Discussion in Shanghai, China.

MIT Commencement Address

Commencement Address to MIT Graduates


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