[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         OLDER AMERICANS MONTH

  Mr. SARBANES. Madam President, since 1963 when President Kennedy 
began this important tradition, May has been proclaimed ``Older 
Americans Month,'' a time set aside each year for our country to honor 
senior citizens for their many important accomplishments and their 
contributions to improving and advancing their communities and their 
Nation.
  Those of us who have worked diligently in the U.S. Senate to ensure 
that older Americans are able to live in dignity and independence 
during their retirement years look forward to this opportunity to pause 
and reflect on the contributions of those citizens who played such a 
major role in shaping the great nation in which we live today. We honor 
them for the hard work and countless sacrifices they have made 
throughout their lifetimes and look forward to their continued 
contributions to our country's welfare.
  Senior citizens of today have witnessed more technological changes 
than any other generation in our Nation's history. The average senior 
today has lived through a major Depression, a world war, and incredible 
advancements in the fields of science, medicine, transportation, and 
communications. It is imperative that we address the needs of these 
Americans who have devoted so much of their lives to the betterment of 
our society. As a vigorous and consistent supporter of measures to 
benefit senior citizens, I am pleased that we were able in the last 
Congress to reauthorize the Older Americans Act. First enacted in 1965, 
the Older Americans Act has evolved from its original mandate to 
promote independent living among those older citizens with the greatest 
social and economic need into today's dynamic network of community and 
home-based services so critical to many of our Nation's seniors.
  The need for such legislation becomes especially apparent during a 
time set aside to honor older Americans, the most rapidly growing 
segment of our population. Currently, older Americans comprise 12.5 
percent of the country's population. In my own State of Maryland, over 
735,000 individuals are over the age of 60, representing 15.6 percent 
of Maryland's total population. By the year 2000, that percentage is 
expected to incerase to 16.2 percent, slightly higher than the national 
average. This demographic transformation poses significant challenges 
and opportunities, and the Older Americans Act provides an excellent 
framework from which to address these challenges as we move into the 
next century. The Older Americans Act is only the beginning. It is not 
enough that we honor our senior citizens. We must continue to work for 
and enact legislation which meets the needs of this valuable segment of 
our society.
  As you know, the slogan for this year's Older Americans' Month is 
``Aging: An Experience of a Lifetime.'' It is this lifetime of 
experience which makes our seniors a particularly valuable national 
resource. Senior citizens in America do not sit on the sidelines, they 
continue to contribute to their families, their friends, their 
communities, and their country. Older Americans have played an integral 
part in bringing the serious need for health care reform to the 
forefront of our domestic agenda. Many seniors led the way in calling 
for comprehensive national health care, not only for their benefit, but 
for the benefit of all Americans. They have experienced the failures 
and the successes of our current health care system.
  Older Americans have been the hardest hit by health care inflation. 
For many Americans under the age of 60, a prescription is something one 
fills once a year. Many older Americans fill prescriptions once a month 
or even once a week, and older Americans as a group use four times the 
prescription drugs that Americans under 60 do. Most Americans under the 
age of 60 have been insulated from the skyrocketing cost of 
prescription drugs. Many seniors, on the other hand, have found their 
disposable income eaten up by prescription drugs. Many other seniors 
have seen a lifetime of savings whittled away by the long-term care of 
a spouse or a parent. In short, if our current health care system is 
not reformed, the rest of us will experience the same. As we consider 
health care reform, we should keep in mind the theme for this year's 
Older Americans' Month, ``Celebrating Long Life and Good Health.'' 
Without true health care reform, many Americans will have very little 
to celebrate. If we are to be prepared for the needs of our Nation 
tomorrow, we must answer the needs of older Americans today.
  My own State of Maryland has been blessed with a substantial and 
growing senior population. In recognition of the countless 
accomplishments and contributions of Maryland seniors, this year has 
been designated the ``Year of the Senior'' in Maryland. As our Nation 
has benefited from an active, concerned senior population, so too has 
the State of Maryland. As a State we have seen our seniors step in to 
fill the breach left by the ravages of drug abuse and violence. 
Countless numbers of seniors in Maryland and across the nation are 
becoming surrogate parents.
  While many of us assume we will be relaxing in retirement, many older 
Americans choose to continue a lifetime of volunteer service or even to 
become volunteers for the first time. For example, the National Senior 
Volunteer Program provides critical support for numerous retired and 
senior volunteer programs throughout the Nation. A good example of the 
effectiveness of this program is seen in the Retired and Senior 
Volunteer Program [RSVP] for Baltimore County, MD. This program has 
over 2,000 volunteers who provide over 300,000 hours of service to 
their community each year at a cost of less than 20 cents per volunteer 
hour.
  RSVP for Baltimore County addresses a wide variety of community 
needs, with volunteers serving children in day care centers, tutoring 
and mentoring students from elementary through middle school students, 
and supporting substance abuse programs geared to high school students. 
In addition, RSVP volunteers work in community settings such as 
libraries, hospitals, hospice programs, adult day care centers, nursing 
homes, and provide services to isolated homebound seniors. We are all 
extremely fortunate that RSVP for Baltimore County is only one of the 
many senior organizations contributing to the well being and 
advancement of both the State of Maryland and the Nation as a whole.
  Madam President, I am confident that we now have an administration 
sensitive to the needs of older Americans and committed to affirming 
their continued dynamism. We are, of course, very fortunate in Maryland 
to have Senator Barbara Mikulski serving as the chair of the Senate 
Labor and Human Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Aging. As we 
continue our observance of ``Older Americans Month,'' I look forward to 
working with Senator Mikulski and the rest of my colleagues in 
affirming the continuing contributions of older Americans to our 
society and in ensuring that they are able to live independently and 
with dignity.

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