[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10989]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     LEGISLATION TO BENEFIT SENIORS

  (Ms. GIFFORDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GIFFORDS. Mr. Speaker, in these difficult economic times, the 
face of retirement is changing. Today, seniors are staying on the job 
longer--not just because they want to, but, frankly, because they have 
to. That's why I'm introducing two bills that will begin to address 
some of the challenges that we see facing our older workforce.
  The Older Americans' Job Opportunities Blueprint Act expands the work 
opportunity tax credit already available to over a dozen specific parts 
of our employment pool that will now benefit employers in hiring older 
Americans. For the first time in our history almost 20 percent of our 
workforce is 55 years and older; this is very different than we've had 
in the past.
  I have also introduced the Back to School Act, which will give 
seniors financial assistance to take courses if they want to change 
their careers or to make them more competitive in the workforce.
  Congress, of course, focuses a lot of our attention on new entrants 
or future entrants into the U.S. workforce, but the reality is that 
seniors are putting off retirement until much longer, and it's time 
that we change the way our Nation thinks about retirement. I am excited 
to introduce these two pieces of legislation that will give older 
Americans a chance to continue working.

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