National Issues Forum

Preregistration Is Encouraged -- Space Is Limited

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum,
The Des Moines Public Library, Mercy Hospital/Cedar Rapids, and
The Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education at The University of Iowa
To Host Series of National Issues Forums This Fall

In collaboration with the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and its partners will host, between Labor Day and Election Day, three discussion forums on “Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need?” Forums are three hours in length, and they are open to the public.

Forums will be held:
•  September 13, 2008 , 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM , at the Des Moines Public Library in Des Moines , IA
To register to attend the Des Moines forum, please click here: http://events.desmoineslibrary.com/aspx/events/default.aspx?eid=93

•  October 15, 2008 , 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM , at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids , IA
Preregistration required to attend the Cedar Rapids forum.
To register: http://belinblank.org/nifi/

•  October 22, 2008 , 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM , at the Belin-Blank Center , Blank Honors Center , The University of Iowa in Iowa City , IA
Preregistration is required to attend the Iowa City forum.
To register: http://belinblank.org/nifi/

All 12 Presidential Libraries of the National Archives and Records Administration, in communities all across the country, are participating in this initiative. All of the libraries and their partners are hosting forums on health care. The forums will be held in a variety of locations including Presidential Libraries, local community centers, public libraries, hospitals, and university campuses.

To stimulate discussion, NIFI has prepared an issue booklet titled “Coping with the Cost of Health Care: How Do We Pay for What We Need?” Copies of this booklet are available at http://www.nifi.org/stream_document.aspx?rID=12288&catID=6&itemID=12286&typeID=8 Bound copies of the booklet will be distributed at each of the forums.

The forums are nonpartisan and are not formatted like typical political debates. Rather, they are public discussions that give citizens a chance to explore the costs and benefits of proposed courses of action. "Participants in a forum," NIFI chairman William Winter, said "deliberate with one another eye-to-eye, face-to-face, exploring options, weighing others' views, considering the costs and consequences of public policy decisions. In a democracy, citizens have a responsibility to make choices about how to solve problems and forums help enrich participants' thinking on public issues. By offering citizens a framework for deliberative forums, NIFI helps the public take an active role in acting on public issues."

NIFI is a 25-year-old nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored forums established for the consideration of public policy issues. Forums are rooted in the simple notion that citizens need to come together to reason and to talk — in order to deliberate about common problems. For information about NIFI, contact Bob Daley at (937) 434-7300 or email him at daley@kettering.org . Or, you may visit the National Issues Forums Institute web site at www.nifi.org

This is the first time in history that all of the United States presidential libraries are cooperating to hold deliberative forums on a key issue facing the nation in upcoming presidential elections. A report of the proceedings of each forum will be sent to policy makers and to the Kettering Foundation. A summary research report, combining all data from all forums being held across the country, will be released to the public in March, 2009.

--For press information, please contact Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum staff at 319-643-5301

--For information about the Presidential Libraries visit www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/

--For information about the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids forums, contact Catherine-blando@uiowa.edu

--For information about the Des Moines forum, contact Laura Walth at LAWalth@desmoineslibrary.com

--For those needing detailed directions to Mercy Medical Center/Cedar Rapids and/or the Belin-Blank Center/Iowa City site locations, participants should consult their registration confirmation http://belinblank.org/nifi/