[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 7 (Monday, February 21, 1994)]
[Page 323]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Announcement on the White House Conference on Aging

February 17, 1994

    The President announced today that he is formally calling for a 
White House Conference on Aging to be convened in May of 1995.
    ``I am pleased to resume the proud traditions of White House 
Conference on Aging begun by President John F. Kennedy in 1961,'' said 
the President, noting that there has not been a White House Conference 
on Aging since 1981. ``The fact that this will be the last White House 
Conference on Aging of the 20th century makes this one even more 
significant.''
    Under the terms of the Older Americans Act, which authorizes that 
such a Conference be held, a 25-member policy committee chosen jointly 
by the President and the Congress will be selected to work out the 
specifics of the Conference, including its agenda and the number of 
participants. Earlier in the fall, President Clinton announced his 
selection of Robert B. Blancato, formerly of the National Italian-
American Foundation and the former House Select Committee on Aging, to 
be the Executive Director of the White House Conference on Aging.
    ``An older America must soon face a new century,'' concluded the 
President. ``A 1995 White House Conference on Aging allows us to plan 
for this challenge by working together to develop policy recommendations 
for the 21st century. We owe this to future generations.''