[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 96 (Monday, June 8, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E541-E542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING CARROLL ESTES

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 8, 2026

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. 
Carroll L. Estes, Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of 
California, San Francisco, whose lifetime of scholarship, advocacy, and 
service has profoundly shaped aging policy and social welfare in the 
United States.

[[Page E542]]

  Dr. Estes founded the Institute for Health & Aging at UCSF and served 
as Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the 
School of Nursing. A pioneering scholar in the political economy of 
aging and critical gerontology, she has dedicated her career to 
advancing the health, dignity, and economic security of older 
Americans, particularly older women, through rigorous research and 
fearless public advocacy.
  The breadth of Dr. Estes' leadership in the field is extraordinary. 
She served as an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, 
President of the Gerontological Society of America, the American 
Society on Aging, and the Association for Gerontology in Higher 
Education. She chaired the Board of Directors of the National Committee 
to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and she has counseled U.S. 
Commissioners of Social Security and Congressional committees on aging 
across several decades. Her counsel is grounded in both scholarly rigor 
and deep moral commitment to our community. Dr. Estes has never 
hesitated when asked to present on the importance of protecting Social 
Security and Medicare in Congressional Town Halls in both San Francisco 
and Sonoma Counties.
  Inspired by the late Maggie Kuhn and the Gray Panthers movement, Dr. 
Estes has always understood that scholarship must be put in service of 
justice. Her landmark 1979 work, The Aging Enterprise, illuminated how 
economic forces and the needs of older Americans intersect to shape the 
policies that are meant to serve them. Her foundational insights helped 
establish the political economy of aging as a serious field of inquiry. 
Her more than two dozen books and numerous journal articles have shaped 
national discourse on Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, and 
health equity, making her one of the rare scholars whose ideas have 
directly influenced the laws that millions of Americans depend upon. In 
recognition of these extraordinary contributions, Dr. Estes has 
received UCSF's highest honor, the University of California Medal, 
along with distinguished awards from major academic and public health 
associations. Now, she continues to lead by example, inspiring new 
generations of scholar-advocates to do the same.
  Dr. Estes has shared that her proudest accomplishment is raising an 
amazing daughter, Duskie Estes, an accomplished chef and devoted 
mother, and her son-in-law chef John Stewart. Together, Duskie and John 
have raised two extraordinary young women, Brydie and Kenzie Stewart.
  Mr. Speaker, California and the Nation are fortunate to have had 
Carroll Estes as a champion for older Americans. Her enduring legacy in 
both academia and public policy reflects the very best of what American 
scholarship and public service can achieve. Therefore, it is fitting 
and proper that we honor her here today.

                          ____________________