SELECT COMMITTEE ON AGING CLAUDE PEPPER, Florida, Chairman EDWARD R. ROYBAL, California MARILYN LLOYD BOUQUARD, Tennessee JIM SANTINI, Nevada ROBERT F. DRINAN, Massachusetts DAVID W. EVANS, Indiana STANLEY N. LUNDINE, New York MARY ROSE OAKAR, Ohio ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN, New York THOMAS A. LUKEN, Ohio WES WATKINS, Oklahoma LAMAR GUDGER, North Carolina GERALDINE A. FERRARO, New York WILLIAM R. RATCHFORD, Connecticut EDWARD J. STACK, Florida CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa, JOHN PAUL HAMMERSCHMIDT, Arkansas ROBERT K. DORNAN, California HAROLD C. HOLLENBECK, New Jersey S. WILLIAM GREEN, New York ROBERT (BOB) WHITTAKER, Kansas DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California HENRY A. WAXMAN, California MICHAEL LYNN SYNAR, Oklahoma EUGENE V. ATKINSON, Pennsylvania ROBERT S. WEINER, Staff Director JAMES A. BRENNAN, Assistant to the Chairman WALTER A. GUNTHARP, Ph. D., Minority Staff Director (II) FOREWORD Each year, more and more Americans reach the age of 65. For many of these senior citizens, acquiring the most basic needs of food and shelter is an arduous and financially draining endeavor. Too often, the elderly find themselves alone, destitute, and neglected across the country. When these older Americans are no longer able to maintain the comfortable, dignified way of life which they deserve, the Government has an essential moral obligation to assist them. For this reason, Congress established the Older Americans Act in 1965 and it has since become the primary social services program for the elderly, with projects as diverse as the National Nutrition Program, multipurpose senior citizen centers, and community service employment efforts. Presently, the Older Americans Act has a dramatic impact on the lives of thousands of elderly citizens every day. The committee is reprinting the Older Americans Act at this time because of the extensive and significant changes made by Congress in the last few years. These amendments have served both to improve coordination of the multitude of existing programs on the local, State, and national level, and to implement new programs. It is my belief that the numerous alterations to the Older Americans Act demonstrate Congress' sustained interest in the needs and desires of the American elderly. This publication resulted from the efforts of many people. I must express special appreciation, however, to Evelyn Tager of the Congressional Research Service for her invaluable technical assistance to the staff in preparing this summary of the Older Americans Act. I hope this booklet will alert Government officials, interested citizens, and older Americans to the many programs available to the aged, for if a project is unknown, it is wasted. I hope, too, that government at all levels will continue attempts to ease the lives of this Nation's elderly, the most vulnerable and rapidly increasing segment of our population. CLAUDE PEPPER, Chairman, (III) |