Illinois Senator Gets APAPAC Support

Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois (center) in the November general election, poses with members of the Illinois Psychiatric Society (IPS) in late September after they presented Obama with a contribution from APAPAC. Joining Obama, who emerged victorious in the election, are (from left) Joan Anzia, M.D., IPS president; Kenneth Busch M.D., co-chair of the IPS Government Affairs Committee and an IPS representative to the APA Assembly; Surinder Nand, M.D., IPS president-elect; and Shastri Swaminathan, M.D., also an IPS Assembly representative.

The check presentation was made in Chicago at a fundraiser for Obama as part of an ongoing program through APAPAC in which APA members educate federal legislators and policymakers about mental health issues. At the fundraiser Obama spoke with the IPS members about the mental health budget in Illinois.

IPS lobbyist Bruce Simon and community affairs consultant Renée Rose helped select Obama as an APAPAC recipient. Rose's father is Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., who has worked closely with Obama since he was elected to the state Senate in 1997. Obama is currently chair of the state Senate's Committee on Health and Human Services.