Vice President Al Gore and Tipper Gore will once again visit Vanderbilt University to host an annual conference addressing policy issues of major concern to America's families and children.
"Family Re-Union 8: Family and Community" events will take place at various university and medical center sites on June 21 and 22.
"Every year Tipper and I look forward to the chance to engage people and organizations in a national dialogue about how policy can impact and involve families," said Gore, who has moderated the conference since he was a U.S. senator. "We know that families are strengthened by communities which are healthy and supportive. In too many communities across our nation, modern-day stress is having a negative impact on family life."
"Al and I often hear from parents who are looking for support from communities as they raise their children and try to balance family and work," said Tipper Gore. "They want to be more involved in their communities and help find ways in which multigenerational families can feel at home in their neighborhoods."
The announcement was made by the Office of the Vice President and conference co-sponsors Bill Purcell, executive director of the Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt University, and Dr. Martha Farrell Erikson, director of the Children, Youth & Family Consortium of the University of Minnesota.
Vice President Gore added, "We are particularly thankful to have the expertise and experience of the Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt and the Children, Youth & Family Consortium of the University of Minnesota. These organizations play an essential role in examining and strengthening the lives of all families."
As it does each year, the conference will give families, community program directors, housing and economic development experts, religious, medical, business, educational, and law enforcement leaders and others an opportunity to share their expertise and make recommendations to local, state and national policy makers.
The conference will include policy sessions led by Vice President and Mrs. Gore as well as roundtables on a wide array of topics. In addition to the more than 1,000 attendees in Nashville, the conference will be viewed across the country through live satellite broadcasts and accessed through a conference website and live cybercast.