[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3498-3502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    ELDER ABUSE VICTIMS ACT OF 2009

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 448) to protect seniors in the United States from 
elder abuse by establishing specialized elder abuse prosecution and 
research programs and activities to aid victims of elder abuse, to 
provide training to prosecutors and other law enforcement related to 
elder abuse prevention and protection, to establish programs that 
provide for emergency crisis response teams to combat elder abuse, and 
for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 448

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Elder Abuse Victims Act of 
     2009''.

                      TITLE I--ELDER ABUSE VICTIMS

     SEC. 101. ANALYSIS, REPORT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO 
                   ELDER JUSTICE PROGRAMS.

       (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations to carry out this section, the Attorney 
     General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services, shall carry out the following:
       (1) Study.--Conduct a study of laws and practices relating 
     to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, which shall 
     include--
       (A) a comprehensive description of State laws and practices 
     relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
       (B) a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of such 
     State laws and practices; and
       (C) an examination of State laws and practices relating to 
     specific elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation issues, 
     including--
       (i) the definition of--

       (I) ``elder'';
       (II) ``abuse'';
       (III) ``neglect'';
       (IV) ``exploitation''; and
       (V) such related terms the Attorney General determines to 
     be appropriate;

[[Page 3499]]

       (ii) mandatory reporting laws, with respect to--

       (I) who is a mandated reporter;
       (II) to whom must they report and within what time frame; 
     and
       (III) any consequences for not reporting;

       (iii) evidentiary, procedural, sentencing, choice of 
     remedies, and data retention issues relating to pursuing 
     cases relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
       (iv) laws requiring reporting of all nursing home deaths to 
     the county coroner or to some other individual or entity;
       (v) fiduciary laws, including guardianship and power of 
     attorney laws;
       (vi) laws that permit or encourage banks and bank employees 
     to prevent and report suspected elder abuse, neglect, and 
     exploitation;
       (vii) laws relating to fraud and related activities in 
     connection with mail, telemarketing, or the Internet;
       (viii) laws that may impede research on elder abuse, 
     neglect, and exploitation;
       (ix) practices relating to the enforcement of laws relating 
     to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and
       (x) practices relating to other aspects of elder justice.
       (2) Development of plan.--Develop objectives, priorities, 
     policies, and a long-term plan for elder justice programs and 
     activities relating to--
       (A) prevention and detection of elder abuse, neglect, and 
     exploitation;
       (B) intervention and treatment for victims of elder abuse, 
     neglect, and exploitation;
       (C) training, evaluation, and research related to elder 
     justice programs and activities; and
       (D) improvement of the elder justice system in the United 
     States.
       (3) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, submit to the chairman and ranking 
     member of the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, and 
     the Speaker and minority leader of the House of 
     Representatives, and the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services, and make available to the States, a report that 
     contains--
       (A) the findings of the study conducted under paragraph 
     (1);
       (B) a description of the objectives, priorities, policies, 
     and a long-term plan developed under paragraph (2); and
       (C) a list, description, and analysis of the best practices 
     used by States to develop, implement, maintain, and improve 
     elder justice systems, based on such findings.
       (b) GAO Recommendations.--Not later than 18 months after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
     shall review existing Federal programs and initiatives in the 
     Federal criminal justice system relevant to elder justice and 
     shall submit to Congress--
       (1) a report on such programs and initiatives; and
       (2) any recommendations the Comptroller General determines 
     are appropriate to improve elder justice in the United 
     States.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $6,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2015.

     SEC. 102. VICTIM ADVOCACY GRANTS.

       (a) Grants Authorized.--The Attorney General, after 
     consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
     may award grants to eligible entities to study the special 
     needs of victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
       (b) Authorized Activities.--Funds awarded pursuant to 
     subsection (a) shall be used for pilot programs that--
       (1) develop programs for and provide training to health 
     care, social, and protective services providers, law 
     enforcement, fiduciaries (including guardians), judges and 
     court personnel, and victim advocates; and
       (2) examine special approaches designed to meet the needs 
     of victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2015.

     SEC. 103. SUPPORTING LOCAL PROSECUTORS AND COURTS IN ELDER 
                   JUSTICE MATTERS.

       (a) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations under this section, the Attorney General, 
     after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services, shall award grants to eligible entities to provide 
     training, technical assistance, policy development, 
     multidisciplinary coordination, and other types of support to 
     local prosecutors and courts handling elder justice-related 
     cases, including--
       (1) funding specially designated elder justice positions or 
     units in local prosecutors' offices and local courts; and
       (2) funding the creation of a Center for the Prosecution of 
     Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation to advise and support 
     local prosecutors and courts nationwide in the pursuit of 
     cases involving elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $6,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2015.

     SEC. 104. SUPPORTING STATE PROSECUTORS AND COURTS IN ELDER 
                   JUSTICE MATTERS.

       (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations under this section, the Attorney General, 
     after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services, shall award grants to eligible entities to provide 
     training, technical assistance, multidisciplinary 
     coordination, policy development, and other types of support 
     to State prosecutors and courts, employees of State Attorneys 
     General, and Medicaid Fraud Control Units handling elder 
     justice-related matters.
       (b) Creating Specialized Positions.--Grants under this 
     section may be made for--
       (1) the establishment of specially designated elder justice 
     positions or units in State prosecutors' offices and State 
     courts; and
       (2) the creation of a position to coordinate elder justice-
     related cases, training, technical assistance, and policy 
     development for State prosecutors and courts.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $6,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2015.

     SEC. 105. SUPPORTING LAW ENFORCEMENT IN ELDER JUSTICE 
                   MATTERS.

       (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations under this section, the Attorney General, 
     after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services, the Postmaster General, and the Chief Postal 
     Inspector for the United States Postal Inspection Service, 
     shall award grants to eligible entities to provide training, 
     technical assistance, multidisciplinary coordination, policy 
     development, and other types of support to police, sheriffs, 
     detectives, public safety officers, corrections personnel, 
     and other first responders who handle elder justice-related 
     matters, to fund specially designated elder justice positions 
     or units designed to support first responders in elder 
     justice matters.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $8,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2015.

     SEC. 106. EVALUATIONS.

       (a) Grants Under This Title.--
       (1) In general.--In carrying out the grant programs under 
     this title, the Attorney General shall--
       (A) require each recipient of a grant to use a portion of 
     the funds made available through the grant to conduct a 
     validated evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities 
     carried out through the grant by such recipient; or
       (B) as the Attorney General considers appropriate, use a 
     portion of the funds available under this title for a grant 
     program under this title to provide assistance to an eligible 
     entity to conduct a validated evaluation of the effectiveness 
     of the activities carried out through such grant program by 
     each of the grant recipients.
       (2) Applications.--
       (A) Submission.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
     this title, an entity shall submit an application to the 
     Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and containing 
     such information as the Attorney General may require, which 
     shall include--
       (i) a proposal for the evaluation required in accordance 
     with paragraph (1)(A); and
       (ii) the amount of assistance under paragraph (1)(B) the 
     entity is requesting, if any.
       (B) Review and assistance.--
       (i) In general.--An employee of the Department of Justice, 
     after consultation with an employee of the Department of 
     Health and Human Services with expertise in evaluation 
     methodology, shall review each application described in 
     subparagraph (A) and determine whether the methodology 
     described in the proposal under subparagraph (A)(i) is 
     adequate to gather meaningful information.
       (ii) Denial.--If the reviewing employee determines the 
     methodology described in such proposal is inadequate, the 
     reviewing employee shall recommend that the Attorney General 
     deny the application for the grant, or make recommendations 
     for how the application should be amended.
       (iii) Notice to applicant.--If the Attorney General denies 
     the application on the basis of such proposal, the Attorney 
     General shall inform the applicant of the reasons the 
     application was denied, and offer assistance to the applicant 
     in modifying the proposal.
       (b) Other Grants.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations under this section, the Attorney General shall 
     award grants to appropriate entities to conduct validated 
     evaluations of grant activities that are funded by Federal 
     funds not provided under this title, or other funds, to 
     reduce elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $7,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2015.

     SEC. 107. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Elder.--The term ``elder'' means an individual age 60 
     or older.
       (2) Elder justice.--The term ``elder justice'' means--
       (A) from a societal perspective, efforts to--
       (i) prevent, detect, treat, intervene in, and prosecute 
     elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and

[[Page 3500]]

       (ii) protect elders with diminished capacity while 
     maximizing their autonomy; and
       (B) from an individual perspective, the recognition of an 
     elder's rights, including the right to be free of abuse, 
     neglect, and exploitation.
       (3) Eligible entities.--The term ``eligible entity'' means 
     a State or local government agency, Indian tribe or tribal 
     organization, or any other public or nonprofit private entity 
     that is engaged in and has expertise in issues relating to 
     elder justice or a field necessary to promote elder justice 
     efforts.

              TITLE II--ELDER SERVE VICTIM GRANT PROGRAMS

     SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF ELDER SERVE VICTIM GRANT PROGRAMS.

       (a) Establishment.--The Attorney General, acting through 
     the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime of the 
     Department of Justice (in this section referred to as the 
     ``Director''), shall, subject to appropriations, carry out a 
     three-year grant program to be known as the Elder Serve 
     Victim grant program (in this section referred to as the 
     ``Program'') to provide grants to eligible entities to 
     establish programs to facilitate and coordinate programs 
     described in subsection (e) for victims of elder abuse.
       (b) Eligibility Requirements for Grantees.--To be eligible 
     to receive a grant under the Program, an entity must meet the 
     following criteria:
       (1) Eligible crime victim assistance program.--The entity 
     is a crime victim assistance program receiving a grant under 
     the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) for 
     the period described in subsection (c)(2) with respect to the 
     grant sought under this section.
       (2) Coordination with local community based agencies and 
     services.--The entity shall demonstrate to the satisfaction 
     of the Director that such entity has a record of community 
     coordination or established contacts with other county and 
     local services that serve elderly individuals.
       (3) Ability to create ecrt on timely basis.--The entity 
     shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director the 
     ability of the entity to create, not later than 6 months 
     after receiving such grant, an Emergency Crisis Response Team 
     program described in subsection (e)(1) and the programs 
     described in subsection (e)(2).

     For purposes of meeting the criteria described in paragraph 
     (2), for each year an entity receives a grant under this 
     section the entity shall provide a record of community 
     coordination or established contacts described in such 
     paragraph through memoranda of understanding, contracts, 
     subcontracts, and other such documentation.
       (c) Administrative Provisions.--
       (1) Consultation.--Each program established pursuant to 
     this section shall be developed and carried out in 
     consultation with the following entities, as appropriate:
       (A) Relevant Federal, State, and local public and private 
     agencies and entities, relating to elder abuse, neglect, and 
     exploitation and other crimes against elderly individuals.
       (B) Local law enforcement including police, sheriffs, 
     detectives, public safety officers, corrections personnel, 
     prosecutors, medical examiners, investigators, and coroners.
       (C) Long-term care and nursing facilities.
       (2) Grant period.--Grants under the Program shall be issued 
     for a three-year period.
       (3) Locations.--The Program shall be carried out in six 
     geographically and demographically diverse locations, taking 
     into account--
       (A) the number of elderly individuals residing in or near 
     an area; and
       (B) the difficulty of access to immediate short-term 
     housing and health services for victims of elder abuse.
       (d) Personnel.--In providing care and services, each 
     program established pursuant to this section may employ a 
     staff to assist in creating an Emergency Crisis Response 
     Teams under subsection (e)(1).
       (e) Use of Grants.--
       (1) Emergency crisis response team.--Each entity that 
     receives a grant under this section shall use such grant to 
     establish an Emergency Crisis Response Team program by not 
     later than the date that is six months after the entity 
     receives the grant. Under such program the following shall 
     apply:
       (A) Such program shall include immediate, short-term 
     emergency services, including shelter, care services, food, 
     clothing, transportation to medical or legal appointment as 
     appropriate, and any other life services deemed necessary by 
     the entity for victims of elder abuse.
       (B) Such program shall provide services to victims of elder 
     abuse, including those who have been referred to the program 
     through the adult protective services agency of the local law 
     enforcement or any other relevant law enforcement or referral 
     agency.
       (C) A victim of elder abuse may not receive short-term 
     housing under the program for more than 30 consecutive days.
       (D) The entity that established the program shall enter 
     into arrangements with the relevant local law enforcement 
     agencies so that the program receives quarterly reports from 
     such agencies on elder abuse.
       (2) Additional services required to be provided.--Not later 
     than one year after the date an entity receives a grant under 
     this section, such entity shall have established the 
     following programs (and community collaborations to support 
     such programs):
       (A) Counseling.--A program that provides counseling and 
     assistance for victims of elder abuse accessing health care, 
     educational, pension, or other benefits for which seniors may 
     be eligible under Federal or applicable State law.
       (B) Mental health screening.--A program that provides 
     mental health screenings for victims of elder abuse to 
     identify and seek assistance for potential mental health 
     disorders such as depression or substance abuse.
       (C) Emergency legal advocacy.--A program that provides 
     legal advocacy for victims of elder abuse and, as 
     appropriate, their families.
       (D) Job placement assistance.--A program that provides job 
     placement assistance and information on employment, training, 
     or volunteer opportunities for victims of elder abuse.
       (E) Bereavement counseling.--A program that provides 
     bereavement counseling for families of victims of elder 
     abuse.
       (F) Other services.--A program that provides such other 
     care, services, and assistance as the entity considers 
     appropriate for purposes of the program.
       (f) Technical Assistance.--The Director shall enter into 
     contracts with private entities with experience in elder 
     abuse coordination or victim services to provide such 
     technical assistance to grantees under this section as the 
     entity determines appropriate.
       (g) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 12 months after 
     the commencement of the Program, and annually thereafter, the 
     entity shall submit a report to the Chairman and Ranking 
     Member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
     Representatives, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the 
     Special Committee on Aging of the Senate. Each report shall 
     include the following:
       (1) A description and assessment of the implementation of 
     the Program.
       (2) An assessment of the effectiveness of the Program in 
     providing care and services to seniors, including a 
     comparative assessment of effectiveness for each of the 
     locations designated under subsection (c)(3) for the Program.
       (3) An assessment of the effectiveness of the coordination 
     for programs described in subsection (e) in contributing 
     toward the effectiveness of the Program.
       (4) Such recommendations as the entity considers 
     appropriate for modifications of the Program in order to 
     better provide care and services to seniors.
       (h) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
       (1) Elder abuse.--The term ``elder abuse'' means any type 
     of violence or abuse, whether mental or physical, inflicted 
     upon an elderly individual, and any type of criminal 
     financial exploitation of an elderly individual.
       (2) Elderly individual.--The term ``elderly individual'' 
     means an individual who is age 60 or older.
       (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated for the Department of Justice to carry out 
     this section $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 
     through 2011.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Johnson) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the second elder justice bill we are considering today 
is the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009. The House passed this bill on 
suspension last September by a vote of 387-28, but the Senate did not 
have time to consider it before adjournment.
  It is estimated that each year, as many as 5 million elders are 
abused, neglected, or exploited. And the incidence of elder abuse is 
likely to only get worse in coming years, as 76 million baby boomers 
reach retirement age.
  The legal protections against elder abuse vary significantly from 
State to State. The problem of elder abuse is especially problematic as 
many abuse cases remain secret and are never reported. The National 
Center on Elder Abuse has estimated that only one in six cases is 
reported.
  H.R. 448, the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009, sponsored by the 
gentleman

[[Page 3501]]

from Pennsylvania, Mr. Sestak, will help provide training, technical 
assistance, and other support, to State and local law enforcement 
officials to help them catch and prosecute those who would prey on our 
elders.
  The bill will authorize funding for specialized elder justice police 
officers and units, as well as for special elder justice positions and 
units within State and local prosecutors' offices and courts.
  It will also provide other services to elders who are victimized. In 
addition to training for health care, social, and protective service 
providers, it establishes the Elder Serve Victim Grant Program with 
regional emergency crisis response teams. These teams will provide 
short-term emergency services to elder victims, including shelter, care 
services, food, clothing, transportation to medical or legal 
appointments, and other life services as warranted.
  Finally, the bill requires the Attorney General and the GAO to 
examine State and Federal laws, practices, and initiatives, and to 
recommend ways to more effectively address this problem. This bill 
comes to the floor amended to more clearly define the role of the 
Comptroller General in conducting its study and reporting to Congress.
  In addition to Joe Sestak, I want to commend the gentleman from New 
York, Peter King, for his leadership in making this a bipartisan 
initiative. I would also like to acknowledge our former colleague from 
Illinois, Rahm Emanuel, for his work on this issue.
  I would like to insert in the Record at this point a letter from the 
American Bar Association supporting this legislation as a ``significant 
step in addressing the inexcusable and growing national problem of 
elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.''


                                     American Bar Association,

                                 Washington, DC, February 9, 2009.
     Re the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009.

     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative: The American Bar Association urges you 
     to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 448, the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 
     2009, legislation that we understand will be brought to the 
     floor of the House under Suspension of the Rules tomorrow. 
     The ABA supports enactment of the legislation as a 
     significant step in addressing the inexcusable and growing 
     national problem of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation--a 
     tragedy that is estimated to cause serious harm to as many as 
     two million people each year. That estimate does not reflect 
     abuse of residents of long-term care facilities and thus is 
     likely quite low. Additionally, the problem is estimated to 
     grow as the older population burgeons.
       Elder justice is central to any viable notion of the rule 
     of law and social justice. The serious problems faced daily 
     by victims of elder abuse cannot be remedied unless the 
     justice system is given the resources to address those 
     problems effectively. Elder abuse is a criminal violation, 
     yet historically the justice system has handed the issue off 
     to social services personnel who cannot adequately address 
     the problem on their own. Currently there are very limited 
     resources and expertise available to prosecutors to address 
     elder abuse. H.R. 448 would establish vitally necessary 
     specialized elder abuse prosecution and research programs and 
     activities to aid victims of elder abuse and to provide 
     relevant training to prosecutors and others who work in law 
     enforcement.
       Thank you for your support.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                 Thomas M. Susman,
                            Director, Governmental Affairs Office.
  I urge my colleagues to support this, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 448, the Elder Abuse 
Victims Act of 2009. As founder and co-Chair of the Congressional 
Victims Rights Caucus, I believe it's important to advocate on behalf 
of all victims, especially our seniors. This is why I am a cosponsor of 
this important piece of legislation to protect our elders.
  Elder abuse is a serious issue facing the country, and whether abuse 
is happening in homes or senior care facilities, we must do what we can 
as a Nation to protect these seniors. I believe that because seniors 
are often unable to defend themselves from mistreatment and abuse, that 
we must work together to prevent violence from occurring in the first 
place.
  Currently, people over the age of 50 make up 12 percent of the 
Nation's murder victims and 7 percent of other serious and violent 
crime. Our eldest seniors, 80 years of age and over, are abused and 
neglected at three times the rate of all other senior citizens.
  H.R. 448, the Elder Abuse Victims Act, sponsored by Representative 
Sestak, helps protect our older Americans from this type of abuse. 
Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Justice to provide 
grants to State and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and 
courts, to assist in the investigation and prosecution of elder 
victimization.
  In addition to physical abuse, these grants also include identity 
theft, mail fraud, and telemarketing fraud as types of elder abuse. 
H.R. 448 authorizes the Department of Justice to also award grant 
funding to local law enforcement agencies and first responders that 
assist in locating the elderly that are missing. These grants will 
support programs that monitor older Americans in an effort to prevent 
them from facing future harm.
  In addition, the bill instructs the Justice Department to carry out a 
study of State laws and procedures regarding elder abuse and neglect 
and exploitation. The study will give us a better idea of where we 
stand and what more we can do as a Nation to address this serious 
problem.
  H.R. 448 also directs the Department to create a long-term plan on 
how to better prevent and detect elder abuse. The plan is also to focus 
on the treatment of victims, as well as to evaluate current elder abuse 
programs.
  Mr. Speaker, everyone has a grandmother, and the thought of our 
grandmothers being neglected and abused is outrageous. Nothing made my 
blood boil more as a judge to see a case where some elderly person has 
been assaulted and their case was on trial.
  Older Americans, whether they are our parents, our grandparents, or 
our neighbors, hold an important place in our society. They have lived 
long lives and given much to their communities and their families. The 
acts of abuse against them are intolerable, and they deserve the 
protection that we can give them under H.R. 448.
  We passed a similar bill under suspension in the last Congress, and I 
urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the sponsor of this legislation, a former admiral, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak).
  Mr. SESTAK. The previous bill was on Alzheimer's. And, in my 
district, I had one of those patients. A few years ago, he was beat six 
times with a belt buckle. One of his neighbors had dementia, and he was 
defrauded of $84,000 four months before he passed away. It's why I 
submitted the Elder Abuse Victims Act.
  This incidence of elder abuse, whether it's physical, financial, 
moral, degrading--and I mean sexual--or these types of exploitations 
are only growing in numbers. In my State of Pennsylvania, the third 
oldest in the Nation, between 2006 and 2007, and then 2007 and 2008, 
the incidences increased 39 percent.
  Yet, we are really not sure how many incidents there are. My 
colleague from Georgia cited numbers may be more than 5\1/2\ million. 
But we don't know. At least 84 percent of them are reported to be 
unreported.
  The issue is that we truly need to step back and have a look, a 
comprehensive review of all the States and the agencies that are intent 
upon addressing this issue to some degree and come up with one uniform 
type of definition and standard by which we could begin to build up the 
correct reporting requirements we need in order to properly address 
this issue. Then we need to step over and recognize that we do well, 
and need to do even better, for our women.
  We appropriate $540 million towards violence against women, and $6.9 
billion for child abuse, but then recognize it's only a bit over $100 
million for senior abuse. And while we need to do more in those areas, 
we need to bring this one up to a higher level for our seniors.
  I speak in support of this growing population of ours. I do so 
because it

[[Page 3502]]

was well laid out by both sides of the aisle here that in addition to 
this one uniform comprehensive set of definitions and standards, that 
we then need the proper grants given to the law enforcement, as well as 
the prosecution, as well as the victim advocacy citizens that are 
trying to do their best to address this.
  So, in conclusion, I speak in support of this bill because I think 
Hubert Humphrey probably had it best: The moral test of a government is 
how well it does not only for those in the dawn of life--the children--
and those in the shadows of life--the sick and the disabled, the 
handicapped--but also those in the twilight of life, our seniors.
  And so I request the support of all on this bill.

                              {time}  1845

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  As a Nation, we are not judged by the way we treat the rich, the 
famous, the powerful, the important folks that live among us; but we as 
a community in this Nation are judged by the way we treat the most 
vulnerable among us, the weak, the innocent, the children, and the 
elderly. That is how we will be judged as a Nation. It is important 
that we then pass this legislation to help protect those innocent among 
us, and in this bill it happens to be the elderly. I urge adoption of 
this bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, prior to yielding back, I would 
like to glance over at the other side of the aisle and recognize my 
good friend, Judge Poe, who is probably well familiar with elder abuse 
and this general topic, he having been a trial court judge down in 
Beaumont, Texas. Mr. Speaker, I strongly emphasize my support of this 
legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 448, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. SESTAK. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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