[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 16, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7646-H7647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SALUTING THE FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROGRAM, THE SENIOR COMPANION PROGRAM, 
                AND THE RETIRED SENIOR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to thank my 
colleagues for their help with three very important programs that came 
before the House recently. I am speaking of the Foster Grandparent 
Program, the Senior Companion Program, and the Retired Senior Volunteer 
Program.
  As an amendment to the House appropriations bill, we were able to 
increase funding actually back to 1995 levels, which are very 
appropriate, because just dealing with one program for the moment, the 
Foster Grandparent Program, it is one of the largest people-to-people 
programs we have in America. We were able to, in the Labor-HHS 
appropriations bill for fiscal year 1997, restore the kind of funding 
that is needed to make this program viable and one that is going to 
help the most people.
  It was Mary Lloyd, the director of the Montgomery County, PA, 
program, who brought the need to light. While many of us as Members of 
Congress know of the importance of the Foster Grandparent Program, I 
was brought to a greater awareness in a recent meeting and visit I had 
to the Foster Grandparent Program in my district, where I saw many of 
the senior citizens working with the youth at risk in our neighborhoods 
to make sure they are given the educational programs after school, the 
nurturing programs, the ones that talk about careers.
  I guess one of the cases that brought to light the need even greater 
was the fact that some students who have been involved with drugs, 
where they could not be reached by their parents, many were not even 
reached by the clergy, they may not have been reached by the school, 
the foster grandparents on an intergenerational level were able to 
touch this young person, get them off the addiction of drugs, get them 
involved in positive youth activities with Scouting and youth sports.
  The Foster Grandparent Program is one that is here to stay. Along 
with the Senior Companion Program and the retired and senior volunteer 
programs, they are making the kind of public-private partnership that 
this Congress should be embracing and is embracing, and one that the 
executive and legislative branches can work with together.

  Mr. Speaker, we had this evening a group that met Nationally, from 
every State, with each one having their own story to tell. Whether it 
is John Pribyl, the director of Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota 
and the president of the Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent 
Program, or Mary Louise Schweikert, who is from Pennsylvania and the 
national president of the Association of Foster Grandparent Programs, 
or Patricia Renner, president of the National Association of RSVP, or 
the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, we heard in poignant testimony to 
the Members tonight how important is is to maintain these programs in a 
budget where we are trying to make sure that waste and duplication is, 
of course, eliminated, and we do not duplicate what programs the 
private sector or the State governments provide.
  But this is certainly a program of which we can be very proud. Over 
half a million volunteers in each of these programs are making a 
difference in people's lives. After all, Mr. Speaker, life is about 
making a difference. We can see clearly through the efforts of

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the Foster Grandparent Program, the Senior Companion Program, and the 
Retired Senior Volunteer Program that people like Mary Lloyd in 
Montgomery County and others across America who are volunteers in those 
programs are making a difference. Tonight, along with other colleagues, 
I salute the Foster Grandparent Program and all they have done for 
America.

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