[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1917-E1918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MANY FEDERAL PROGRAMS ARE UNNECESSARY AND BURDENSOME

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                            HON. BILL ORTON

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 11, 1995

  Mr. ORTON. Mr. Speaker, when I visited with residents of the Third 
Congressional District of Utah, I find that many want Federal programs 
streamlined and made more efficient. Many programs are unnecessary and 
burdensome. On other occasions, however, I am reminded that there are 
many Federal programs that make real differences in the lives of people 
and give us substantial return for the Federal dollar invested in them.
  An article published in the September 27, 1995, edition of the Salt 
Lake Tribune highlights one such program in my district. West Valley 
City, UT, is one of five cities in the Nation to receive an Outstanding 
Community Service Award for its Green Thumb Senior 

[[Page E 1918]]
Community Service Employment Program. The newspaper article spotlights 
the work of two senior citizens who are involved with the Green Thumb 
Program in West Valley City. The program clearly is helping these folks 
remain active and independent until they retire while at the same time 
making contributions to the community they live in. I would like to 
submit this article for inclusion in today's Record to pay tribute to 
this program, the senior citizens in West Valley City it is helping, 
and the city officials who take the time to be involved in the program 
and make it work.

       Bunny Bowen works in anticipation of not having to work 
     anymore.
       She has plans for retirement: publishing her 2,000 
     poems, reopening a ceramics shop, getting back on the 
     stage.
       In the meantime, she answers phones for the West Valley 
     City Police Department, logs reports, arrest information and 
     protection orders into computers.
       One of several West Valley City employees hired through the 
     federally funded Green Thumb Senior Employment Program. 
     Bowen, 62, praises her employer. ``They go out of their way 
     for us,'' she says.
       West Valley City is one of five cities in the United States 
     to receive an Outstanding Community Service Award for its 
     Green Thumb Service Senior Community Service Employment 
     Program.
       Green Thumb was established in 1965 by President Johnson to 
     hire retired farmers to work on the Nation's parks and 
     highways. These days, the program provides job training to 
     senior workers with household incomes less than $9,340. 
     Workers earn minimum wage while they are trained and then 
     have the option of working for the agency that trained them 
     or seeking a job elsewhere. About 282 Utahans worked for 
     Green Thumb last year.
       West Valley City now employs five Green Thumb trainees and 
     four graduates.
       Ron Burris, area Green Thumb supervisor, says West Valley 
     City does more for its elderly employees than most agencies 
     by holding resume and interviewing workshops to help them 
     learn the process of getting a job.
       Like hundreds of Utah senior citizens, Bowen found herself 
     in the financial gap between working and retirement. After 26 
     years of doing books for her husband's business, her 
     experience was outdated and her Social Security income 
     minimal.
       ``The job market's tough when you're older,'' Bowen says. 
     ``I was scared to death of computers.''
       Bowen eventually found work through Green Thumb and plans 
     to work for two more years and then retire.
       But not Claude Heiner. The 68-year-old former mining 
     engineer has worked for the city for three years and does not 
     see his job ending anytime soon.
       Heiner started working for West Valley City after a car 
     accident left him in a wheelchair unable to continue his 
     consulting business. Now he manages the office at the city 
     shops, taking complaints about road damage, snowplowing and 
     dispatching drivers.
       ``This really wasn't what I wanted, but it gave me 
     something to do besides sitting around the house,'' Heiner 
     says. ``I'll work as long as my health holds out.''

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