President Obama signs the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act! Vice President Biden and Representative John Dingell (D-MI) standing to the left-center. Yesterday I had the rare privilege of seeing history being made, and it was history made possible by you, the great Lung Family.

At a beautiful White House Rose Garden ceremony, President Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, an event we have worked towards for decades.

I was tremendously proud to stand in the Rose Garden with Paul Billings, Vice President, National Policy and Advocacy, and Erika Sward, Director, National Advocacy representing you on this incredible day—proud of your work, your perseverance over this hard won fight, and proud of your ceaseless dedication to our fight for air.

With this new law, our kids will no longer be enticed by candy flavored cigarettes, or assailed by huge colorful ads, or deceived by false health claims. Big Tobacco has been significantly de-fanged, and you helped hold the pliers. Many, many lives will be saved.

Once again, I want to thank our entire nationwide Advocacy team, our volunteers, our staff and especially our donors for making this victory possible.

As I begin my final week as your national chairman, I’ve never felt prouder to be part of this great organization, than I am on this historic day.

Stephen J. Nolan, Esq.
Chair, American Lung Association National Board