DES MOINES - In a continued effort to share President Obama's vision for our country, Obama for America released a new television ad in Iowa titled "Reverse" that highlights the steady, consistent recovery President Obama is leading for the middle class.

President Obama is coming to Iowa on May 24th for a grassroots event at the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  Thursday's event is the President's first campaign grassroots event in Iowa of this election cycle.   It is open to the public, and no tickets are required. Space will be first come, first served. Doors will open at 4:30 PM CST. The address for the Iowa State Fairgrounds is 3000 East Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50317, and guests should enter using the main entrance to the fair grounds at the intersection of East 30th St. and East Grand Ave.

When the president took office, our country was losing 750,000 jobs a month and he took immediate action to stop the bleeding, not only helping the private sector end the free-fall, but reverse the trend. Instead of losing jobs, we are now creating them -- 4.2 million private sector jobs over 26 consecutive months of job growth.

Since day one, President Obama has been fighting for the middle class and working to move Iowa and our country forward.  While we're moving in the right direction, we have much more work to do.   We are growing an economy that's built to last, where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded, where everyone has a fair shot and does their fair share, and everyone from Wall Street to Main Street plays by the same set of rules.

That is why President Obama is running for re-election, because America cannot afford to go in reverse.

Please click here to watch the ad.

Please click here to read the backup.

Ceremony Highlights Heroism and Bravery of Illinois Servicemembers

CHICAGO - May 19, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today joined Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Illinois National Guard Maj. General William Enyart to honor Illinois National Guardsmen Sgt. First Class Ryan Ahern of Glen Ellyn and Capt. Tom Bozzay of Wheaton with Silver Stars for valor. Gen. Dempsey presented the awards to Ahern and Bozzay for their heroic actions in Afghanistan in December 2009 while protecting a French military unit. 

"As we honor our military heroes on Armed Services Day, we must never forget their sacrifices," Governor Quinn said. "Sgt. First Class Ahern and Capt. Bozzay are genuine heroes and a shining example of Illinois' best."

Ahern and Bozzay are both assigned to Company A, 2^nd Battalion, 20^th Special Forces Group in Chicago. While deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and while under attack from a large enemy force, Bozzay moved under fire to provide medical care to five unit members who were seriously injured. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Bozzay repeatedly used his body to shield wounded comrades from incoming fire.

Ahern was unconscious when the unit received fire, which wounded him and four others. After regaining consciousness from the blast, Ahern identified and fired at the enemy long enough to allow other members of the unit to reinforce their positions.

"The actions of Capt. Bozzay and Sgt. 1st Class Ahern prove they are not only heroes, but they are true protectors of this country," said Enyart. "They were selfless and fearless without hesitating to simply do their job. They are an inspiration to me and our fellow Illinois National Guardsmen."

The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration that can be awarded to any branch of the United States Military. Today's ceremony on United States Armed Services Day at the Pritzker Military Library comes as the Illinois National Guard is playing a key role in this weekend's historic NATO summit in Chicago. On Sunday, Governor Quinn will join Polish President Bronis?aw Komorowski for a ceremony honoring continued military cooperation between Poland and the Illinois National Guard.

As Memorial Day approaches, Governor Quinn is encouraging Illinois residents to honor the servicemen and servicewomen who have lost their lives fighting for democracy by supporting programs that benefit Gold Star Families, including the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, Operation Hero Miles, and Operation Support Our Troops. For more information about programs for our Veterans, visit www.operationhomefront.org or call the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs at 217-782-6641 or 312-814-2460.

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**Friday, May 18, 2012**

CHICAGO - May 18, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today took action on the following bills:

Bill No.: SB 770

An Act Concerning: Public Aid

Changes the date that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits can first be received, to 30 days after the application is received. Requires an employability assessment to be completed 45 days after administration of TANF benefits.

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: July 1

Bill No.: SB 2450

An Act Concerning: Appropriations

Reallocates money from the General Revenue Fund of the Department of Human Services for childcare provider payments.

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

As World War II ignited in Europe, the woman who would eventually bring Eli Nussbaum into the world was already a young mother with a husband and a little boy.

The family lived in Poland, part of the largest population of Jews in Europe before the war. As the Nazis invaded her country in 1939, Bella-Rachel Liebermench placed her toddler son in the protection of a monastery.

Eventually, she and her husband would be transported to a concentration camp, where he would die and she would survive torture and deprivation. She would never again find her first little boy.

That story is at the heart of a new novel, The Promise (www.elinussbaum.com), by Nussbaum, now one of the United States' premiere pediatric pulmonologists.

"In writing a novel, I was able to truly immortalize my family's stories because a novel is something that will be read by many more people than just my family," Nussbaum says. "Having a record of a family, like a family tree or what a  genealogist might prepare, is important, but few strangers will want to curl up on a sofa with that and read."

Nussbaum says adult children need to think creatively about how they preserve and pass along their parents' stories. Documenting names, dates and milestones is fine, but the audience for that is limited. Recounting the events that shaped your parents' lives, and their reactions to them, not only preserves their legacies, Nussbaum says, it can provide illustrative and cautionary tales for the world at large.

He suggests:

• Make a StoryCorps recording: StoryCorps is a non-profit organization that has collected and archived more than 40,000 interviews since 2003. Anyone can share their story; it will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and participants receive a CD of their recording. Go to www.storycorps.org, find the location nearest you and make a reservation. Bring a friend or loved one - someone who will either appreciate your story or whose story you want to share - and think about the story you want to tell. Staff at the recording sight will help you; the process takes about 40 minutes.

• Create a digital slide show with soundtrack: Photos set to music are an entertaining and often emotional way to share a story. Don't try to tell a whole life's story in one slideshow - that's more like watching someone's old home movies. Instead, choose an interesting time, event or story to share. As you compile photos, music and narration, remember, you don't want to create a photo album, you want to tell a story. So you should have a beginning, middle and end. Your finished product should be no more than two to three minutes long. Caption the photos with names, dates and places. There are numerous public sites online to share your show.

Nussbaum notes that he wrote his novel after his parents' deaths; he knew the stories, so he didn't have to rely on his parents to re-tell them. Those whose parents are still living should involve them in the process, if possible. With StoryCorps, for example, parents can share their stories in their own words.

"The older generations are beginning to pass away," he notes. "For example, in Israel, where I am also a citizen, a study of Holocaust survivors found that by 2015, 66 percent of the survivors in that country will be over 80 years old, and their numbers will have shrunk from 240,000 to 144,000.

"It's important to preserve their legacy now. If your parents are already gone, you need to do it before you can't remember their stories."

About Eliezer Nussbaum, M.D.

Eliezer Nussbaum, M.D., was born in Katowice, Poland; his father lost his first wife and four children in the Holocaust and his mother lost her first husband and son. He is a professor of Clinical Pediatrics Step VII at the University of California and Chief of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine and Medical Director of Pediatric Pulmonary and Cystic Fibrosis Center at Memorial Miller Children's Hospital of Long Beach. He has authored two novels, three non-fiction books and more than 150 scientific publications, and was named among the top U.S. doctors by US News and World Report in 2011-12.