[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 46 (Monday, November 20, 2000)]
[Pages 2864-2865]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2000

November 13, 2000

    Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 782, the ``Older Americans 
Act Amendments of 2000.'' The Older Americans Act of 1965, last 
reauthorized by the Congress in 1992, provides essential home and 
community-based services, such as congregate and home-delivered meals, 
transportation, legal assistance, employment and volunteer 
opportunities, health promotion activities, pension counseling programs, 
and protection from abuse in institutions and in the community for 
millions of older persons across the United States.
    I am very pleased that this bipartisan legislation includes, for the 
first time, an important new program designed to assist families. It 
provides the authorization for the National Family Caregiver Support 
Program, which I first proposed in 1999 as part of my long-term care 
initiative. This program will help hundreds of thousands of family 
members--spouses, adult children, and others--who are struggling to care 
for their frail older loved ones who are ill or disabled. Studies have 
shown that caregiving can take a huge emotional, physical, and financial 
toll on families. The support provided through this new program includes 
critical information, training, and counseling, as well as much needed 
quality respite care for those caregivers who are juggling jobs and 
other family responsibilities while meeting the special needs of loved 
ones

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in their care. This legislation also recognizes the challenges that 
grandparents and other relatives caring for children face, as well as 
those of older individuals who are caring for children who have 
disabilities. When funded, this program will provide valuable assistance 
to the families who need it most.
    Beyond providing this important support to families, the bill I am 
signing today will strengthen and improve the delivery of important 
daily services to our most vulnerable aging citizens through our 
national network of State and area agencies on aging, tribal 
organizations, and other members of our community, including volunteers, 
many of whom are older persons themselves. The new legislation gives our 
States, area agencies, and Tribes more flexibility in serving elders in 
their own communities and regions, and enhances the coordination of 
Federal, State, and local programs to maximize the effectiveness of 
program activities.
    This legislation does much to position our rapidly growing aging 
population for the decades ahead when the number of older persons in 
need of help will be much larger and more diverse. The Act continues to 
focus attention on the needs of those in greatest social and economic 
need, with particular attention to low-income minority elders, and it 
recognizes the needs of those older persons who live in rural areas of 
our country. It acknowledges the cultural differences among our tribal 
populations, and provides them with caregiver support and disaster 
relief assistance as well as promoting better coordination of services 
between State and tribal grantees. It promotes innovation and the 
development of best practices for supporting not only older persons, but 
family caregivers living at home, in the community, or on tribal 
reservations.
    I am also pleased that this legislation incorporates the key 
features of my Administration's proposal for reauthorizing and enhancing 
the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). This important 
program provides part-time community service employment to low-income 
individuals ages 55 and older, and assists them in obtaining 
unsubsidized employment. The bill would maintain the unique and 
complementary structure of SCSEP, under which national nonprofit 
organizations as well as States receive grants to operate the program. 
It also strengthens SCSEP by establishing an enhanced performance 
accountability system, reinforcing connections between SCSEP and the 
broader workforce investment system established under the Workforce 
Investment Act, and improving the planning process by providing for 
broad participation in the development of a plan in each State to ensure 
an equitable distribution of projects and the coordination of services 
to seniors.
    Finally, the Act calls for the convening of a White House Conference 
on Aging by the end of 2005 in order to continue to prepare our Nation 
for its own gift of longevity.
    Today's enactment of this legislation extending and improving the 
Older Americans Act, and establishing the new National Family Caregiver 
Support Program, reflects our continued commitment to our older 
population, and represents a victory for Americans of all ages.
                                            William J. Clinton
 The White House,
 November 13, 2000.

Note: At the time of publication, H.R. 782, approved November 13, had 
not been received by the Office of the Federal Register in time for 
assignment of a public law number.