[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 498 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 498

   Designating June 15, 2016, as ``World Elder Abuse Awareness Day''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 16, 2016

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Collins, Ms. Ayotte, Mrs. McCaskill, 
 Mr. Grassley, Mr. Casey, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Murphy, and Mr. 
 Heller) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Designating June 15, 2016, as ``World Elder Abuse Awareness Day''.

Whereas Federal Government estimates show that more than 1 in 10 persons over 
        age 60, or 6,000,000 individuals, are victims of elder abuse each year;
Whereas the vast majority of the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older 
        adults in the United States goes unidentified and unreported;
Whereas only 1 in 44 cases of financial abuse of older adults is reported;
Whereas at least $2,900,000,000 is taken from older adults each year due to 
        financial abuse and exploitation;
Whereas elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation have no boundaries and cross all 
        racial, social, class, gender, and geographic lines;
Whereas older adults who are abused are 3 times more likely to die earlier than 
        older adults of the same age who are not abused;
Whereas \1/2\ of all older adults with dementia will experience abuse;
Whereas providing unwanted medical treatment can be a form of elder abuse and 
        exploitation;
Whereas public awareness has the potential to increase the identification and 
        reporting of elder abuse by the public, professionals, and victims, and 
        can act as a catalyst to promote issue-based education and long-term 
        prevention;
Whereas private individuals and public agencies must work together on the 
        Federal, State, and local levels to combat increasing occurrences of 
        abuse, neglect, and exploitation crime and violence against vulnerable 
        older adults and vulnerable adults, particularly in light of limited 
        resources for vital protective services; and
Whereas 2016 is the 11th anniversary of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates June 15, 2016, as ``World Elder Abuse 
        Awareness Day'';
            (2) recognizes judges, lawyers, adult protective services 
        professionals, law enforcement officers, long-term care 
        ombudsmen, social workers, health care providers, professional 
        guardians, advocates for victims, and other professionals and 
        agencies for the efforts to advance awareness of elder abuse; 
        and
            (3) encourages members of the public and professionals who 
        work with older adults to act as catalysts to promote awareness 
        and long-term prevention of elder abuse by reaching out to 
        local adult protective services agencies, long-term care 
        ombudsman programs, and the National Center on Elder Abuse, and 
        by learning to recognize, detect, report, and respond to elder 
        abuse.
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