[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10771-S10778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OLDER AMERICANS ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2006
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I commend Chairman Enzi, Senator DeWine,
Senator Mikulski, Chairman McKeon, Representative Tiberi,
Representative Miller, and Representative Hinojosa for their bipartisan
leadership in reauthorization the Older Americans Act. It's been a
lifeline for senior citizens across the country for 40 years, and all
of us want it to continue to fullfill its important mission in the
years ahead.
Like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the Older Americans Act
is part of our commitment to care for the Nation's seniors in their
golden years.
Last year, 1,200 bi-partisan delegates were chosen by the Governors
of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Territories to
attend the first White House Conference on Aging since 1985. Over the
years these conferences have served as catalysts for change, and this
conference was no different. The delegates called for reauthorization
of the Older Americans Act as their No. 1 priority and I'm pleased that
Congress has answered their call.
As we all know, the baby boomer generation is retiring. One in nine
Americans are over age 65 today, but by the year 2030, the number will
be one in five.
Our authorization bill is designed to take some of the necessary
steps to put the infrastructure in place to provide
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services that will be needed by those retirees. It requires State and
local agencies to acknowledge the dramatically changing demographics
and to plan ahead. I hope Congress will continue to build on these
efforts in coming years and provide increased funds for the important
programs in this Act.
The Conference on Aging also focused on another important theme--the
importance of civic engagement and community service by senior
citizens.
Members of the new generation of older Americans obviously want to
continue to be engaged in their communities after they retire, and it
would make no sense for our society not to draw on their experience and
knowledge in constructive ways.
The Older Americans Act already provides opportunities for employment
of older Americans through the Senior Community Service Employment
Program. According to a study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at
Northeastern University, the number of older persons aged 55 to 74 with
income below 125 percent of poverty will increase from 6 million in
2005 to over 8 million in 2015. Our bill strengthens job training for
seniors to involve them in the communities they love, and which also
love them. Last year, the program supported 61,000 jobs and served
92,000 people.
Older Americans today provide 45 million hours of valuable service to
their communities, particularly in senior centers, public libraries,
and nutrition programs.
The bill is also intended to encourage good nutrition, healthy
living, and disease prevention among seniors. The Meals on Wheels
program, enacted in the 1970's, is one of its greatest successes, and
Massachusetts has been in the forefront of efforts to provide
community-based nutrition services to the elderly. The Massachusetts
program coordinates twenty-eight nutrition projects throughout the
State to deal with poor nutrition and social isolation of seniors. Our
bill will expand the ability of programs such as Meals on Wheels to
reach all older individuals who need better nutrition.
Today it's estimated that 47 percent of the elderly eligible for
Supplemental Security Income, 70 percent of seniors eligible for food
stamps, 67 percent of people eligible for Qualified Medicare
Beneficiary protections, and 87 percent of those eligible for Specified
Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary protections are not participating in
these programs. Surely, we can do a better job of outreach to bring
these programs to the attention of those who need them. Our bill
addresses the need for better outreach to seniors about the healthcare,
mental health services, and long-term care benefits available to them.
I also commend all of the staff members who have worked so hard to
bring this bill to final passage today, especially Ellen-Marie Whelan
and Keysha Brooks-Coley in Senator Mikulski's office, Lauren Fuller and
Kori Forster in Senator Enzi's office, and Lindsay Morris and Karla
Carpenter in Senator DeWine's office.
This bill will mean better health and more fulfilling lives for both
seniors and their communities in the years ahead, and I strongly
support its passage.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise in support of legislation to
reauthorize the Older Americans Act.
I strongly support this bill and want to acknowledge the hard work of
the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension, HELP,
Committee, Senator Mike Enzi, and the committee's ranking minority
member, Senator Ted Kennedy.
In addition, I want to thank Senator Mike DeWine, the chairman of the
Retirement Security and Aging Subcommittee and its ranking minority
member, Senator Barbara Mikulski. All four of my colleagues and their
wonderful staffs, Lauren Fuller, Kori Forster, Lindsay Morris, Kara
Marchione, Ellen-Marie Whelan, and Keysha Brooks-Coley did a tremendous
job in producing a good bill that will make a difference in the lives
of older Americans across the nation.
Yesterday, this legislation passed the House of Representatives
unanimously and it is my hope that the Senate will follow suit.
This legislation improves the functions of the Administration on
Aging, provides grants for State and community programs on aging, and
creates training and research programs to assist seniors in maintaining
their independence. In addition, the conference report includes job
training for seniors through the community service employment program
and grants for supportive and nutrition programs for older Native
Americans.
There are two provisions of this measure that I would like to
highlight.
First, the conference report includes provisions from legislation
that I introduced earlier this Congress with my colleague, Senator
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, S. 2010, the Elder Justice Act.
More specifically, this legislation includes a provision which
authorizes the Assistant Secretary on Aging to designate an individual
to be responsible for elder abuse and prevention services, and to
coordinate Federal elder justice activities. This includes developing a
long-term plan for the creation and implementation of a coordinated,
multidisciplinary elder justice system.
I am so proud to have provisions from the Elder Justice Act included
in this legislation. With over 77 million baby boomers retiring in the
next three decades, we have no choice but to acknowledge something must
be done to combat elder abuse. Passage of this bill is an important
step in the right direction.
I also am pleased that this legislation includes a sense of the
Congress recognizing the contribution of nutrition to the health of
older Americans. This sense of the Congress states that while diet is
the preferred source of nutrition, evidence suggests that the use of a
single daily multivitamin-mineral supplement may be an effective way to
address nutritional gaps that exist among the elderly population,
especially the poor. I strongly believe that by encouraging seniors to
take daily multivitamin-mineral supplements, we are only helping them
to live longer, healthier lives and I am hopeful that senior meals
programs will decide to provide supplements to those who participate.
There is a long history of evidence indicating that multivitamins and
minerals can maintain and improve health and are safe. While I wish
this provision had been more than a sense of the Congress, I appreciate
the work of the conferees to highlight the necessity of good nutrition
and supplementation.
Once again, I want to congratulate my colleagues on a job well done.
Older Americans across the country appreciate your efforts.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the
reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. I commend Chairman Enzi and
Ranking Member Kennedy of the Committee on Health, Labor, and Pensions
for their hard work in putting this bill together and working through
the differences with the House prior to today's floor action so that
this important legislation can go straight to the President's desk and
be signed into law.
There are many important provisions aimed at improving the lives of
our senior citizens contained in the Older Americans Act. Today,
however, there is one part of the bill to which I want to draw
particular attention: Section 203 of the act establishes an Interagency
Coordinating Committee that will help the Federal Government work with
its partners to meet the growing housing, health care, transportation,
and related needs of senior citizens around the country. The
Interagency Coordinating Committee will work to better coordinate
Federal agencies so that seniors and their families can access the
programs and services necessary to allow them to age in place or find
suitable housing alternatives. This section draws heavily from S. 705,
the Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors Act, which I
introduced in Apri1 2005. S.705 was passed by the Senate unanimously on
November 15, 2005.
As I said when the legislation first passed, the challenges that
confront us as our population ages are growing more urgent. Data from
the 2000 census show that the U.S. population over 65 years of age was
34.7 million. This number is expected to grow to over 50 million by
2020. It is projected that by 2030 nearly 20 percent of our population
will be over 65; that is, almost one American in every five will be
elderly.
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As our senior population continues to increase, so will the demand
for affordable housing and service options. This is a matter of concern
not only for those who will need the services but for families--
children along with spouses. It concerns communities all around the
country, as productive and responsible citizens grow older and need
help. It is a matter of deep concern for us all because it will affect
the well-being of our entire society.
Many of us know, both from academic studies and our own experience
with elderly parents or friends, that helping a senior citizen to
remain in her home or in her community for as long as possible promotes
a better quality of life. In order to help seniors age in place or find
suitable alternative housing arrangements, services must be linked with
that housing. Seniors must be able to access needed health supports,
transportation, meal and chore services, and assistance with daily
tasks in or close to their homes. Without needed supports, seniors and
their families face difficult and even daunting decisions.
The Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Facility Needs for
Seniors, known as the Seniors Commission, established by Congress in
1999, found that too often, seniors face premature institutionalization
because housing and services are not linked. This results in more
expensive care for the person, increased social isolation, and a lower
quality of life. According to the Commission's report, ``the very
heart'' of its work ``is the recognition that the housing and service
needs of seniors traditionally have been addressed in different
`worlds' that often fail to recognize or communicate with each other.''
The Commission concluded that: ``the most striking characteristic of
seniors' housing and health care in this country is the disconnection
of one field from another.'' The creation of the Interagency
Coordinating Committee will ensure that this important conversation
gets started.
If left unattended, the problem of lack of coordination will
increasingly undermine all of our efforts to assure that Americans have
access to the services they need as they age. The Interagency
Coordinating Committee established by this legislation will increase
communication and coordination among Federal agencies while reducing
duplication. The committee will also serve as a permanent national
platform to address the needs and issues of our aging population.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee will further help to improve
collaboration and coordination among the Federal agencies and our State
and local partners to ensure that seniors are better able to access
housing and services. This committee will work to find new ways to link
housing programs and needed supportive services to increase their
efficiency, to make them more accessible, and to strengthen their
capacity.
The decisions that our seniors and their families must make are
difficult enough. They should not be made more painful and burdensome
by having to negotiate a confusing maze of programs and services and a
multiplicity of administrative procedures. I am hopeful that the
Coordinating Committee will be able to focus attention on this problem
and cut through the barriers that Americans face to utilizing the
programs we have provided for them.
The two members of the Interagency Coordinating Committee
specifically named in the legislation are the Secretaries of Health and
Human Services, HHS, and Housing and Urban Development, HUD. These two
Cabinet members are crucial to achieving the ultimate goal of the
committee--to make affordable housing and needed supportive services,
which are often health-related services, easier for seniors to access
together. The legislation also names many other high-ranking officers
from agencies that oversee programs of significant importance to the
lives of older Americans as potential members of Coordinating
Committee. I urge the President, after signing this legislation, to
quickly name the rest of the committee so that it can begin to create
the kind of seamless web of housing, health, transportation, and other
services for our seniors that this legislation envisions.
In closing, I want to thank Chairman Enzi and Ranking Member Kennedy
for their strong support for including the idea of the Interagency
Coordinating Committee. Katherine McGuire, Greg Dean, and Lauren Fuller
from the HELP Committee were absolutely vital in working with Jonathan
Miller of my office and the House committee to make sure this important
provision was included in the final legislation.
Likewise, my longtime colleague and friend, Senator Mikulski, who is
the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Retirement Security and
Aging, and Keysha Brooks-Coley from her subcommittee staff, have been
strongly supportive of this provision and have been tireless in their
advocacy on its behalf. I greatly appreciate their efforts. As I did
when S. 705 first passed, I want to express my thanks to Chairman
Shelby for moving S. 705 through the Committee and the Senate floor
expeditiously and the Banking Committee staff who helped in achieving
this goal, especially Kathy Casey, the former staff director, Mark
Calabria, and Tewana Wilkerson.
Finally, I want to thank two former members of my staff, Jennifer
Fogel-Bublick and Sarah Garrett, who, at the staff level, were
principally responsible for crafting the original legislation and who
helped to guide it through this body last year. This accomplishment is
very much due to their hard work over the last several years.
Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I rise today to highlight an agreement
reached by my colleagues, Senator Mike Enzi and Senator Richard Burr,
in regard to Federal funding formulas.
Over the past year and a half the Senate Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions Committee, of which I am a member, has been working on the
reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. Part of this work included
changes to the funding formula for the programs contained within the
act. I was actively involved in this work with Chairman Enzi and
Senator Burr, as I believe that the formula is unfair and inequitable
to states with a growing elderly population.
While we were able to make some changes to the funding formula for
the Older Americans Act, it is far from adequate. The formula continues
to provide high-growth states with less than their fair share of
funding.
Chairman Enzi has agreed to hold hearings during the 110th Congress
to review federal funding formulas.
Senator Burr and I agree that Federal money should follow people.
Current Federal funding formulas often ignore this and penalize those
living in fast-growing States.
According to USA Today, the state of Nevada is projected to see a one
hundred and fourteen percent increase in our population--the highest
rate of growth in the country. Nevada welcomes our new-comers with open
arms, as they have recognized the quality of life the state of Nevada
has to offer. I am proud that so many Americans have chosen to call
Nevada home.
I was sent to Washington, DC, promising that I would do more to bring
Nevadans hard earned dollars back to the State. Nevadans are happy to
pay their fair share of taxes to the Federal Government, but also
expect a fair share to return to the State. Despite my success in
changing several funding formulas, Nevada continues to rank at the
bottom of the list in terms of Federal dollars returning to the State.
Much of this is because current Federal funding formulas contain
provisions that require outdated population data, and others mandate
the use of hold harmless provisions. Both of these provisions work
against those who need the assistance these funds provide. These
provisions punish those who have chosen to move to a different State
particularly fast-growing States.
I have worked to bring some equity and fairness to the title I
education funding formula, which has brought an additional $43 million
to the State of Nevada. I have also worked to bring some fairness to
the Perkins Career and Technical Education program and other important
programs, but much work remains to be done.
I am anxious for these hearings to begin so we can truly shed some
light on these formulas and the unfair provisions used to allocate
Federal dollars. Federal money ought to follow those individuals it is
designed to assist. It should not be held hostage to politics.
It is my hope that these hearings will lay the groundwork for work on
other
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federal funding formulas, particularly those used to allocate funding
for education and health care programs. I am looking forward to working
with my colleagues on this extraordinarily important issue in the very
near future.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of Senate
passage of the bipartisan, bicameral Older Americans Act Amendments of
2006, H.R. 6197. This bill passed the House unanimously yesterday and
is a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reauthorize this important act
until 2011.
H.R. 6197 retains and strengthens current programs, as well as
establishes new innovative programs. This bipartisan bill also honors
the agreement that I made with Senators Enzi, DeWine, and Kennedy to
members of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to
address the current funding formula for title III OAA dollars before
moving the bill to the senate floor. The bill includes a compromise
that addresses States that have both increasing and decreasing
populations. Updating the ``hold harmless'' to the fiscal year 2006
funding level helps States with steady populations, while phasing out
the guaranteed growth provision over 5 years helps States with
increasing aging populations.
This past December, the congressionally mandated White House
Conference on Aging convened 1,200 bipartisan delegates from all 50
States to discuss issues that affect the lives of older individuals
across the country. The No. 1 resolution adopted at the conference was
reauthorization of the OAA this year. We have heeded their call and are
pleased that H.R. 6197 has the strong support of the aging community.
There are three principles that I used to guide this reauthorization
process. First, to continue to improve the core services of this act to
meet the vital needs of America's seniors. We need a national program
with national standards that ensure consistency but allow for
sufficient flexibility and creativity. Second, to modernize the act, to
meet the changing needs of America's senior population, including the
growing number of seniors over 85. We must be ready for the impending
senior boom and look for ways to help seniors live more independent and
active lives. And finally, to ensure these critical national, State,
and local programs have the resources they need to get the job done.
This bill keeps our promise to older Americans to retain and
strengthen current OAA programs, as well as provide new innovative
programs to further improve the act. It will ensure that the OAA
continues to meet the day-to-day needs of our country's older Americans
and the long-range needs of our aging population.
The reauthorization bill maintains tried and true programs, including
information and referral services that are the backbone of OAA
programs, providing seniors and their family members information about
supportive services, nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels that
provide meals to 2.75 million people every year, and transportation
services which are critically important to seniors in our rural areas.
At the same time, we recognize the need to strengthen certain programs
in the act and establish new innovative initiatives that are fiscally
responsible.
The bill strengthens the National Family Caregiver Support Program by
providing respite services to older adults who care for their children
who are disabled and lowering the age eligibility of grandparents
caring for a child from 60 to 55. The bill also extends caregiver
services to individuals with Alzheimer's disease of any age to address
the increasing number of people who are being diagnosed with
Alzheimer's at an earlier age and increases the authorization for the
program to meet the growing needs of family caregivers.
The bill strengthens aging and disability resource centers, expanding
the important role resource centers across the country provide. These
centers are visible, trusted sources of information on long-term care
options and health insurance and provide seniors and their family
members with important information on benefits including the Medicare
prescription drug program.
The bill strengthens the title V Senior Community Service Employment
Program by maintaining the strong community service aspect of the
program, an integral component since the beginning. This program helps
seniors find jobs at Meals on Wheels programs, senior centers, and
public libraries.
H.R. 6197 authorizes new innovative programs including a Naturally
Occurring Retirement Community--NORC--Aging in Place Program that will
support and enhance the ability of seniors to remain in their homes and
communities by providing seniors necessary supporting services
including transportation, social work services, and health programs.
The new grant program builds on the success of Naturally Occurring
Retirement Communities Programs that have developed at the local level
and have a proven record of success.
A Civic Engagement Demonstration Program is authorized that
encourages older adults to become actively involved in their
communities. The program will capitalize on the talent and experience
of older adults to meet critical needs in our communities. The bill
also creates an elder abuse program that will support State and a
community effort against elder abuse by conducting research related to
elder abuse and neglect and creates a nationally coordinated system to
collect data about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
The bill also establishes an Interagency Coordination Committee based
on S. 705, Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors Act of
2005, introduced by the senior Senator from Maryland, Mr. Sarbanes. The
interagency committee will address the housing and social service needs
of seniors and enhance working relationships and coordination among
Federal entities including the Departments of Health and Human
Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation.
This bill addresses the issue of emergency preparedness for seniors
by requiring States and Area Agencies on Aging to coordinate, develop
plans, and establish guidelines for addressing the senior population
during disasters/emergencies. During Hurricane Katrina and Rita, we all
saw that many times the people who were left behind were the elderly.
We must plan accordingly for seniors and use the successful senior
network that exists in our country to make sure that they are not
forgotten.
I thank Senator DeWine, chairman of the Retirement Security and Aging
Subcommittee, for his sincere dedication to reauthorizing the OAA this
year and his willingness to work in a bipartisan manner to accomplish
this. This is our second time reauthorizing this act together, and we
produced a bipartisan bill once again. I also thank Senator Enzi for
his strong leadership in moving this bill through the Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and all the way up to this
point. Thank you also to Senator Kennedy for his leadership and his
tireless advocacy for OAA programs and the people it serves.
Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the Older Americans
Act amendments of 2006. As the Federal Government's chief program for
the provision of a variety of social services for America's older
citizens, the Older Americans Act, OAA, has and will continue to be a
program of critical importance, especially for the aging baby boomer
population.
The bill before us includes a number of important provisions that
seek to strengthen and improve health and nutrition programs,
educational and volunteer services, and home and community support
systems for our Nation's older citizens. I commend my colleagues in
Congress for these needed improvements and enhancements to the OAA, and
I support final passage of this bill.
While I am also pleased by the modifications made to the funding
formula included in title III of the act that will result in increased
funding for North Carolina and other high-growth States, I am
disappointed that the final funding formula included in the act does
not completely eradicate funding inequities. For far too long, my home
State of North Carolina and a number of other high-growth States have
consistently been underfunded under the OAA. Prior to the 2000
reauthorization of the OAA, the General Accountability Office, GAO,
both in 1994 and 2000, documented that the allocation
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method used by the Administration on Aging, AOA, to distribute title
III funding resulted in inequitable funding across States and adversely
affected States with rapidly growing older populations such as North
Carolina. Under AOA's allocation procedures, States with above-average
growth were consistently underfunded, while States with below-average
growth were consistently overfunded. In fiscal year 2000 alone, GAO
found that AOA's allotment method resulted in North Carolina being
underfunded by $2.1 million.
Although Congress attempted during the 2000 reauthorization of the
OAA to ensure that the allocation methods used to distribute funds were
consistent with statute, a provision was added to the formula, referred
to as a guaranteed growth factor, which had the unfortunate effect of
compounding the disparities between high- and low-growth States. Under
the formula included in the Act before us, this guaranteed growth
factor is to be phased out in 5 years. I appreciate the inclusion of
this phase out. However, I strongly believe that 5 years is too long a
time to eliminate a funding provision that serves only to underfund
high-growth States and over-fund low-growth States.
As we all know, older Americans are a rapidly growing and ever
important group of our population. My home State of North Carolina has
and will continue to experience unprecedented growth in all segments of
our populations in the coming years. While the Nation's total
population is expected to grow 29 percent by 2030, North Carolina's
total population is expected to increase 51.9 percent by 2030, making
North Carolina the seventh most populous by 2030 and the seventh
fastest growing state.
The State of North Carolina welcomes this growth, which we are
experiencing among all age segments of our population, and we are
pleased that so many are choosing to make North Carolina their home.
Nevertheless, to best meet the needs of our residents, it is imperative
that funds provided by Federal programs such as the OAA reach the
individuals they are intended to serve. As we all know, funding
formulas are complicated. Nevertheless, it is critical that this and
other formula issues be resolved once and for all and not once again
put off for another day or other reauthorizations years down the road.
If the goal of the OAA is to provide essential Federal programs and
services for older Americans, then such Federal funds must be directed
to States in which older Americans are living.
For this reason, I am pleased that Chairman Enzi has committed to me
to hold hearings during the coming Congress to review all formulas for
Federal programs under the jurisdiction of the Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions Committee and to examine how those formulas are developed
to determine the fair and equitable distribution of funds. I also
appreciate Chairman Enzi's commitment to address the next
reauthorization of the OAA within 3 years after we pass this bill
before us so that we can more quickly examine and remediate the current
funding inequities. I look forward to working with Chairman Enzi and my
other colleagues to ensure that Federal funds follow the people and
their needs.
Ms. STABENOW. I have heard from many seniors, the Center for Social
Gerontology in Ann Arbor, and Michigan's Area Agencies on Aging and
senior centers about the need for reauthorizing the Older Americans
Act, which was last reauthorized in 2000. While the reauthorization of
the OAA is a positive step for America's seniors, funding for Federal
seniors services has failed to keep place with inflation and an aging
population.
I am also pleased that the OAA reauthorization will contain the core
elements of S. 409, the Federal Youth Coordination Act, which I
cosponsored with Senator Norm Coleman. I was also pleased to work with
Congressman Tom Osbourne on pushing this legislation forward. I thank
Chairman Enzi and Senators Kennedy and Mikulski and their staff for
including this important piece of legislation in the OAA
reauthorization.
In 2003, the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth report
identified numerous programs in 12 different Federal agencies that
serve or relate to disadvantaged youth. But the task force could not
determine precisely how much funding directly impact our young people
because there is no uniform, focused Federal youth policy. The task
force recommended the establishment of a coordinating body to
facilitate the evaluation, coordination, and improvement of Federal
programs serving youth.
In response, our legislation creates a 2-year coordinated council to
evaluate, coordinate, and improve Federal youth programs. Membership on
the council includes 12 Federal agency officials, representatives of
youth-serving nonprofits and faith-based organizations, and the youth
who actually participate in these important programs.
The purpose of our bill is not to cut programs but to look at ways we
can better serve our young people. Our children, especially those most
at risk, should not be lost in a Federal bureaucracy. We must ensure
that our taxpayers' investment produces a strong return on our Nation's
investment in our children. America's youth deserve high-quality,
effective and meaningful youth development programs that achieve the
greatest possible impact.
I urge the President to convene a council that will take its mission
seriously and includes members with strong backgrounds in children's
services. Most importantly, the council ought to include young people,
especially those positively impacted by federally funded programs. At a
January briefing I sponsored with Senators Coleman and DeWine, one of
the most powerful stories we heard from Terry Harrak, a former foster
youth once caught in the middle of the maze of services. She called on
the Senate to pass the Coleman-Stabenow bill and for Congress to not
cut the number of programs but to improve how they work together.
Again, I thank my colleagues for their support for serving two of our
most vulnerable populations, our seniors and our children.
Additionally, I thank the many Michigan organizations who supported the
Federal Youth Coordination Act, and I ask unanimous consent that a copy
of the letters in support of S. 409 be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
National Collaboration for Youth,
Washington, DC, January 13, 2006.
Hon. Debbie Stabenow,
133 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Stabenow: On behalf of the National
Collaboration for Youth and its member organizations, we
thank you for your support of the Federal Youth Coordination
Act (S. 409) and co-sponsoring the briefing on the
legislation held earlier this week.
More than 20 Senate staff members attended the briefing to
hear our distinguished panelists discuss the maze of services
facing disadvantaged youth and their families. The federal
government currently lacks a coordinating body with the
mandate to weave the existing tangle of services into a
seamless web of supports. We appreciate your leadership on
The Federal Youth Coordination Act (FYCA), which fills this
need and provides valuable leadership, support and efficiency
to state and local efforts across the country.
We look forward to continuing to work with your office on
FYCA. Children are simply too important, and resources are
too scarce, to not pass this legislation.
Sincerely,
Irv Katz,
President and CEO.
____
Voices for Michigan's Children
Lansing, MI, April 18, 2005.
Senator Debbie Stabenow,
U.S. Senate, 702 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Hon. Senator Stabenow: On behalf of our Board of Directors
of Michigan's Children, I would like to thank you for your
sponsorship of the Federal Youth Coordination Act of 2005.
Transitioning to adulthood can be a complicated process for
young people, navigating through the supports and services
available should not be so complicated. For this reason,
Michigan's Children has as one of its legislative and
administrative priorities for 2005 advocacy related to at-
risk youth transitioning to adulthood. This priority includes
supporting state and federal steps to provide more
coordinated services to this population. As you are aware,
the Federal Youth Coordination Act represents a positive step
in this direction.
We are pleased that you have signed on as a Senate co-
sponsor to this important piece of legislation. It may
interest you to know that the theme of the 2005 Michigan Kids
Count Databook will be issues faced by at-risk youth in
transition. This should provide a unique opportunity this
fall (the databook is scheduled for release in October 2005)
to
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draw some attention to this critical issue. If there is
anything that we can provide to you about the Act itself, or
the status of young people in Michigan, please don't hesitate
to contact our office,
Sincerely,
Sharon Peters,
President/CEO.
Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I understand that tonight the Senate will
move to passage of the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. I
support passage of this legislation, which funds nutrition, health,
elder abuse prevention, caregiver support, and employment programs that
are critical to our Nation's seniors--so critical, in fact, that
delegates to the White House Conference on Aging ranked reauthorization
as their No. 1 priority.
Today, people over the age of 65 make up over 12 percent of the
population, but they will make up 20 percent in the next 45 years. That
means one out of every five Americans will be a senior by the year
2050. Just in the past 5 years, Wisconsin has experienced a 6 percent
increase in people over the age of 65. It is clear we need a strong
Older Americans Act that provides real help if we are to serve the
seniors of today and tomorrow.
As ranking member of the Special Committee on Aging, I applaud the
bipartisan efforts of Senator Enzi and Senator Kennedy in producing a
bill that preserves the programs in the Older Americans Act. This is
not a perfect bill, and in future reauthorizations we must continue to
strengthen OAA for both today's seniors and the coming tidal wave of
baby boomer retirees. But I am pleased that this reauthorization
rejects attempts to dismantle the OAA programs and instead preserves
them.
This OAA reauthorization bill includes several pieces I strongly
support. First, it strengthens the Senior Community Service Employment
Program--now renamed the Older American Community Service Employment
Program. Many seniors expect to work past traditional retirement age.
Some will do so because they enjoy the physical and mental benefits of
work, but others need additional income to be financially secure.
That is why the OACSEP program is so important. It is the only
Federal workforce program specifically targeted to older people,
providing community service and job training to low-income adults age
55 and over. Many of us were concerned that the administration proposed
a major overhaul of this program that would have disrupted both
grantees and participants. Instead, this bill wisely preserves OACSEP
and builds on its success.
In particular, the bill maintains OACSEP's role in allowing seniors
who have a disability or poor employment prospects to do community
service jobs. Instead of turning seniors away, this bill recognizes
that seniors who give back to their communities help not only the
organizations and families they serve but also help themselves become
more self-sufficient.
I thank the HELP Committee for working with me to improve OACSEP.
Specifically, the bill expands eligibility to ensure that people who
have some income but are still very poor can get OACSEP services. It
also requires the Department of Labor to evaluate the performance of
OACSEP grantees by hours of community service employment, placement
into and retention in paid jobs, earnings, and the number of people
served--including the number of people from hard-to-serve populations.
And it requires Labor to use performance on these measures as one of
its criteria in awarding future grants.
At an Aging Committee hearing in April, the GAO testified that even
though thousands of seniors need training and jobs, Labor has
restricted OACSEP eligibility so much that grantees can't find enough
people to enroll. The bill returns to more realistic eligibility
criteria, such as ensuring that SSI benefits no longer count as income
in determining whether you are poor enough to qualify for the program.
This reauthorization also recognizes the importance of engaging our
next generation of seniors in community service. While many boomers
would like to continue working, others will look to mix work and
leisure with volunteerism. Older Americans bring a wealth of talent and
experience to their communities, and many are eager to make a
meaningful contribution. This reauthorization directs the
administration on Aging to develop a blueprint for engaging boomers and
authorizes a fund for innovation for community stakeholders to engage
boomers. These are two important steps in giving the government and
communities the tools needed to harness boomers' leadership skills and
abilities.
I am also pleased to see several provisions of the Elder Justice Act
included in the Older Americans Act reauthorization. I am an original
cosponsor of Elder Justice and strongly support its goals. For far too
long, our Nation has turned its back on the shame of elder abuse. With
these provisions, we are finally saying enough is enough--elder abuse
is unacceptable and we are going to put an end to it.
For the first time, the bill provides real Federal leadership in the
fight to end elder abuse by creating an Office of Elder Abuse
Prevention. It also includes programs to assist States and Indian
tribes with their efforts to protect seniors. Important research and
data collection can now begin so we will know the scope of the problem
and the best solutions to prevent, detect, and treat elder abuse,
neglect and exploitation.
In addition, I am pleased this bill preserves the Long Term Care
Ombudsman Program. Although it is a small program, the ombudsman plays
a key role in protecting the elderly and disabled in long-term care by
serving as an advocate for patients and helping them resolve complaints
of abuse, neglect, and mistreatment. A recent report by the Institute
of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences noted the importance of
routine onsite presence of ombudsman in detecting problems before they
become serious.
My home State of Wisconsin has one of the most successful ombudsman
programs in the county, and we are proud to have one of the very best
ombudsmen, George Potaracke, leading that program. I have worked for
many years to ensure that this woefully underfunded program receives
increases. These increases are often small, but they improve the lives
of people living in long-term care facilities. I hope that future OAA
reauthorizations will take the ombudsman's growing caseload into
account and increase its funding authorization to match the need.
This legislation also maintains strong support for state and
community programs authorized under title III. These programs serve
over 8.2 million older persons, providing transportation, access to
senior centers, home care, adult daycare, and congregate and home-
delivered meals like the Meals on Wheels program. These valuable
services allow older persons to live in their communities and remain
independent.
Each year, title III gives seniors almost 36 million rides to places
like doctors' offices, grocery stores, and senior centers. It ensures
that 6,000 senior centers continue to flourish in our communities. It
provides 20 million hours of personal care, homemaker, and chore
services, and almost 10 million hours of services in adult daycare. And
it serves 248 million meals to our seniors. I am pleased that the Older
Americans Act reauthorization preserves these important services.
In addition, the Family Caregiver Support program is reauthorized and
improved. I was an original cosponsor of this program, which ensures
that family members who care for an elderly or disabled relative
receive the support and respite services they need. The Family
Caregiver Support Program provides access assistance to 585,000
caregivers, conducts counseling and training services for about 300,000
caregivers, and supports respite care services for over 200,000
caregivers.
Now that we are poised to pass the Older Americans Act
reauthorization, we must make sure we fund it. All of our good
intentions will be empty promises if we don't also provide the
resources seniors need. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I
have consistently supported increased funding for OAA and will continue
to fight for these programs.
Again, I applaud the HELP Committee for this sensible and much needed
bill.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President. I am extremely proud to come to the Senate
today to recognize the passage of a very important piece of legislation
for our Nation's seniors. Democrats and
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Republicans came together over the past 2 years to reauthorize the
Older Americans Act and that's simply good news for seniors across the
country.
I thank Chairman Enzi and our Democrat colleagues Senators Mikulski
and Kennedy for joining me in this effort. This bill is an excellent
example of the positive things we can accomplish when members of both
parties work side by side towards a common goal. Over the past 2 years,
as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Retirement Security and Aging, I
have worked with my colleagues--particularly Senator Mikulski--to bring
together experts in the aging community at hearings, roundtables, and
listening sessions. We have listened to the problems facing our seniors
and to ideas about what we can do to make their lives better. I rise
today with my colleagues on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee as we join in passage of the Older Americans Act Amendments
of 2006, a bill which we all believe will make the lives of seniors
better.
Senator Mikulski and I worked together to draft and pass the Older
Americans Act Amendments of 2000. I am proud to have worked with her
again to improve and update these vital programs for seniors. Her hard
work and experience has been invaluable.
This bill comes about through the dedication and compromise of
members in both the Senate and the House. I would like to take this
moment to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle who worked on this
bill--particularly my colleague from Ohio, Representative Tiberi. They
have been dedicated to the passage of this important legislation, and I
thank them for their hard work.
The Older Americans Act is so important for my home state of Ohio.
More than 2 million persons over the age of 60 in Ohio are eligible for
services under the Older Americans Act. Let me say that again, there
are over 2 million Ohio seniors who will have the opportunity to take
advantage of the programs in this bill. The bill will bring more than
$44 million to programs in Ohio. This vital funding will go to
wonderful organizations such as Meals on Wheels, which provides
important nutrition programs at senior centers and in senior's homes.
This funding will also help programs preventing injury and illness to
seniors, as well as programs supporting families who are caring for
disabled loved ones, including the elderly and adult children with
disabilities, and grandparents who are caring for their grandchildren.
So many Ohioans need these services. In my state 87 percent of those in
need of care by a family member are at age 50 or older. Seventy percent
of those persons are women. Ohioans caring for a disabled family member
spend an average of 4.2 years in this role--time impacting their job,
their emotions, and their health.
The Older Americans Act also provides funding and support for the 12
Area Agencies on Aging that serve older Americans living in Ohio. These
12 agencies do a wonderful job of organizing the services I just
described, as well as many more. They serve all 88 counties in Ohio and
work with State and local providers of services to ensure that all
seniors in their areas maintain proper health and nutrition and are
aware of the services available to them.
Nationwide, older Americans are a vital and rapidly growing segment
of our population. Over 36 million people living in the United States--
about 12 percent of the population--are over the age of 65. The Census
Bureau projects that 45 years from now, people 65 and older will number
nearly 90 million in the United States and will comprise 21 percent of
the population.
The Older Americans Act is an important service provider for these
Americans, and I strongly believe that the reauthorization bill we just
passed updates and strengthens the Act in so many ways. Plans to
prepare for changes to the aging demographics will be incorporated into
the Act. A Federal interagency council responsible for ensuring
appropriate planning for baby boomer-related needs and population
shifts across agencies will be created. And grants and technical
assistance will be provided to local aging service providers to plan
for the baby boomer population.
Our bill will also increase the Federal funding levels for the
National Family Caregiver Support Program over the next 5 years. This
important program helps families care for loved ones who are severely
ill or disabled, yet want to remain in their homes and community. Our
bill expands this program so that all of those caring for loved ones
with Alzheimer's become eligible for support services. Our bill also
clarifies that this program will serve elderly caregivers who are
caring for their adult children with developmental disabilities and
expands that provision to include all adult children with disabilities
who are being cared for by an elderly parent. Lastly, it clarifies that
grandparents caring for adopted grandchildren are covered under the
National Family Caregiver Support Program and lowers the age threshold
for grandparents to 55 years old. These important changes will improve
the quality of life for so many who are struggling under the pressures
of caring for loved ones--including more than 1,700 Ohioans annually.
Other provisions of the bill encourage seniors to make voluntary
contributions to help defray the costs of these programs if they want
to which will allow the program to reach out to even more seniors. This
will help programs such as Meals-on-Wheels to expand their activities
and will enable them to more effectively take contributions from those
older Americans willing and able to pay for services. Annually, more
than 125,000 Ohioans are served nearly 10 million meals by these
important programs. The number of seniors in our population is
increasing--and as it does, we need to modify our programs to ensure
that they are economically sustainable and equipped to grow.
We know that most Americans wish to live independently in their own
homes as they age. Our amendments will help them do so by providing
funding so that the Department of Health and Human Services can award
grants for the improvement of assistive technology that will allow
older Americans to monitor their health while they remain in their
homes. This bill also creates a new program awarding grants for the
creation of innovative models for the delivery of services to those who
remain in their homes. The need for this grant program was discussed at
length in a hearing I held on models for aging in place--specifically,
Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities or NORCs. NORCs are areas in
which large concentrations of people live and stay as they age.
Essentially, NORCs allow individuals to grow old while living in the
communities they love. Programs like NORCs will allow Americans to
remain in their homes and communities, the places where they believe
they will stay happier and healthier. As I stated before, Americans
want to stay in the places they love as they age. This bill will help
them do just that.
Further, this bill creates a new momentum towards the provision of
consumer-driven choices with respect to long-term care. As we all know,
too many older Americans become disabled without the ability or the
insurance to pay for their care. Too often, their only choice is to
live in a nursing facility away from home. This ends up being more
costly and ultimately not what the person would prefer--which is to
remain in their home and their community. This bill will facilitate
access to long-term care choices and opportunities. It will also
enhance the ability of local providers and area agencies on aging to
provide advice on the range of options they have available. Older
Americans will then have the flexibility to decide for themselves which
is the best place for them to age.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program is a federally funded
jobs program geared specifically for older Americans. In Ohio alone, it
provides more than 2,000 jobs for low-income Americans age 55 and
older. Our bill updates this program to ensure additional stability in
those who provide these services for older low-income Americans. This
stability will limit the disruption for seniors employed in the program
and will also help low-income older Americans get the training they
need to move on to better paying jobs.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program has a dual nature,
containing provisions that address both community service and job
training for low income individuals. Our bill
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provides a Sense of the Senate supporting this dual approach.
Furthermore, our bill limits the time period of participation in the
program to 4 years, with an exemption for certain hard to serve
individuals. This provision balances the need for a limit to the time a
person spends in this employment program with the recognition that
certain populations have special needs.
Of great importance to me, this bill also amends the Older Americans
Act to focus attention on the mental health needs of older Americans.
The amendments establish grants for the mental health screening of
older Americans and for increased awareness of the effects of mental
health needs on the elderly population. Too often the mental health
needs of older Americans are overlooked--but they can be as serious and
life-threatening as any other illness. The mental health needs of our
seniors must be taken more seriously. We must deal with them more
aggressively. I believe that these provisions move us significantly
forward in this struggle.
Finally, this bill will help address the terrible problem of seniors
who suffer abuse in their homes or while in nursing homes. Elder abuse
is a serious problem that we know exists but is not well documented.
This bill increases the profile of these issues while providing
important resources for improving the data collection of incidents and
outreach to those who may be suffering abuse. I believe that these new
grants will move us forward tremendously in our fight against elder
abuse. I know that this was an important provision for Chairman Enzi,
and I am glad that we were able to include this important program for
at-risk seniors.
Once again, I want to thank Senator Enzi and Senator Kennedy for
making this reauthorization a priority for the HELP Committee. Over the
months we have negotiated this bipartisan bill, I have greatly
appreciated their thoughtful and steady work to get the Older Americans
Act to this point. Together, we have worked to get it done.
Today's passage of the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 is
incredibly important to older Americans, both in Ohio and across the
Nation. I would like to commend everyone involved.
Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third
time and passed, a motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 6197) was ordered to a third reading, was read the
third time, and passed.
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