[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 21, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S5206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          OLDER AMERICANS ACT

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I am very pleased to see that the Older 
Americans Act reauthorization passed the Senate last week. This law, 
which turns 50 years old this month, provides critical services like 
home-delivered meals, transportation, and elder abuse protections.
  I would like to thank Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray 
for their efforts to pass this bill. I would also like to acknowledge 
the many organizations representing tens of millions of Americans who 
worked with me and my staff to get this bill passed, including the 
National Council on Aging, Meals on Wheels America, AARP, the National 
Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and many others.
  While this bill is a good step forward, I would have preferred that 
it go much further.
  Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. 
Shockingly, 1 in 5 seniors is living on an average income of $8,300 per 
year. We learned from the Government Accountability Office last month 
that nearly 4 million seniors experience food insecurity and do not 
know where their next meal will come from. Fewer than 10 percent of 
low-income seniors who need a meal delivered to their homes receive 
one. There are seniors across the country who may not have enough money 
to eat dinner tonight.
  For the generation that fought to defend democracy and built our 
great Nation, we must do everything we can to make sure that seniors do 
not go hungry. Older Americans should not have to choose between buying 
medicine or keeping a roof over their heads or having food on the 
table.
  Providing home-delivered meals--Meals on Wheels--for seniors is not 
only the right thing to do, it makes good economic sense. Why is that? 
If frail seniors do not get the nutrition they need, they are more 
likely to fall and break a hip and wind up in the hospital emergency 
room or in a nursing home. At the end of the day, investing in 
nutrition which keeps seniors healthy actually saves us money by 
keeping them out of the hospital.
  Since 2006 when the Older Americans Act was last reauthorized, the 
U.S. population over 60 has grown by about 30 percent. Has funding gone 
up by 30 percent? No. In fact, funding has been basically flat, and 
when you account for inflation, funding has actually decreased by about 
12 percent. I strongly believe we should significantly expand funding 
for Older Americans Act programs.
  The truth is that the priorities we hold--treating seniors with 
respect, making sure seniors have the food they need--have the 
overwhelming support of the American people. These principles are among 
the foundations of a just and fair society where people look forward to 
growing old. I thank my Senate colleagues for their support of this 
important reauthorization bill. I hope that my colleagues in the House 
of Representatives take up and pass this bill swiftly so that it can 
become law without any further delay.

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