Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006

OLDER AMERICANS ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2006 -- (Senate - September 29, 2006)

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Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of Senate passage of the bipartisan, bicameral Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006, H.R. 6197. This bill passed the House unanimously yesterday and is a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reauthorize this important act until 2011.

H.R. 6197 retains and strengthens current programs, as well as establishes new innovative programs. This bipartisan bill also honors the agreement that I made with Senators ENZI, DEWINE, and KENNEDY to members of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to address the current funding formula for title III OAA dollars before moving the bill to the senate floor. The bill includes a compromise that addresses States that have both increasing and decreasing populations. Updating the ``hold harmless'' to the fiscal year 2006 funding level helps States with steady populations, while phasing out the guaranteed growth provision over 5 years helps States with increasing aging populations.

This past December, the congressionally mandated White House Conference on Aging convened 1,200 bipartisan delegates from all 50 States to discuss issues that affect the lives of older individuals across the country. The No. 1 resolution adopted at the conference was reauthorization of the OAA this year. We have heeded their call and are pleased that H.R. 6197 has the strong support of the aging community.

There are three principles that I used to guide this reauthorization process. First, to continue to improve the core services of this act to meet the vital needs of America's seniors. We need a national program with national standards that ensure consistency but allow for sufficient flexibility and creativity. Second, to modernize the act, to meet the changing needs of America's senior population, including the growing number of seniors over 85. We must be ready for the impending senior boom and look for ways to help seniors live more independent and active lives. And finally, to ensure these critical national, State, and local programs have the resources they need to get the job done.

This bill keeps our promise to older Americans to retain and strengthen current OAA programs, as well as provide new innovative programs to further improve the act. It will ensure that the OAA continues to meet the day-to-day needs of our country's older Americans and the long-range needs of our aging population.

The reauthorization bill maintains tried and true programs, including information and referral services that are the backbone of OAA programs, providing seniors and their family members information about supportive services, nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels that provide meals to 2.75 million people every year, and transportation services which are critically important to seniors in our rural areas. At the same time, we recognize the need to strengthen certain programs in the act and establish new innovative initiatives that are fiscally responsible.

The bill strengthens the National Family Caregiver Support Program by providing respite services to older adults who care for their children who are disabled and lowering the age eligibility of grandparents caring for a child from 60 to 55. The bill also extends caregiver services to individuals with Alzheimer's disease of any age to address the increasing number of people who are being diagnosed with Alzheimer's at an earlier age and increases the authorization for the program to meet the growing needs of family caregivers.

The bill strengthens aging and disability resource centers, expanding the important role resource centers across the country provide. These centers are visible, trusted sources of information on long-term care options and health insurance and provide seniors and their family members with important information on benefits including the Medicare prescription drug program.

The bill strengthens the title V Senior Community Service Employment Program by maintaining the strong community service aspect of the program, an integral component since the beginning. This program helps seniors find jobs at Meals on Wheels programs, senior centers, and public libraries.

H.R. 6197 authorizes new innovative programs including a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community--NORC--Aging in Place Program that will support and enhance the ability of seniors to remain in their homes and communities by providing seniors necessary supporting services including transportation, social work services, and health programs. The new grant program builds on the success of Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities Programs that have developed at the local level and have a proven record of success.

A Civic Engagement Demonstration Program is authorized that encourages older adults to become actively involved in their communities. The program will capitalize on the talent and experience of older adults to meet critical needs in our communities. The bill also creates an elder abuse program that will support State and a community effort against elder abuse by conducting research related to elder abuse and neglect and creates a nationally coordinated system to collect data about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

The bill also establishes an Interagency Coordination Committee based on S. 705, Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors Act of 2005, introduced by the senior Senator from Maryland, Mr. Sarbanes. The interagency committee will address the housing and social service needs of seniors and enhance working relationships and coordination among Federal entities including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation.

This bill addresses the issue of emergency preparedness for seniors by requiring States and Area Agencies on Aging to coordinate, develop plans, and establish guidelines for addressing the senior population during disasters/emergencies. During Hurricane Katrina and Rita, we all saw that many times the people who were left behind were the elderly. We must plan accordingly for seniors and use the successful senior network that exists in our country to make sure that they are not forgotten.

I thank Senator DeWine, chairman of the Retirement Security and Aging Subcommittee, for his sincere dedication to reauthorizing the OAA this year and his willingness to work in a bipartisan manner to accomplish this. This is our second time reauthorizing this act together, and we produced a bipartisan bill once again. I also thank Senator Enzi for his strong leadership in moving this bill through the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and all the way up to this point. Thank you also to Senator Kennedy for his leadership and his tireless advocacy for OAA programs and the people it serves.

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