Elder Justice Act

Floor Speech

ELDER JUSTICE ACT -- (Senate - May 20, 2008)

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, since May is a month to honor and recognize older Americans, I would like to take a few minutes to talk about my strong commitment to having the Elder Justice Act, S. 1070, approved by Congress and signed into law before the conclusion of the 110th Congress.

Emily Dickinson once said, old age comes on suddenly, and not gradually as is thought. As someone who just celebrated a birthday a few months ago, this statement has never seemed more accurate!

Approximately 44 million people in this country are age 60 and above which tells me that caring for older Americans must be a high priority of future Congresses.

In fact, U.S. citizens 60 years of age and above will increase dramatically over the next 30 years more than 76 million baby boomers will be approaching retirement and old age over the next three decades. Let me say that one more time--more than 76 million baby boomers will be approaching retirement and old age over the next three decades.

Earlier this Congress, Senators Lincoln, Smith, Kohl and I introduced the Elder Justice Act. Congressmen Rahm Emanuel and Peter King introduced a nearly identical bill in the House. Currently, the Senate bill has 28 cosponsors and the House bill has 113 cosponsors.

One person who really deserves a lot of the credit for this bill is our former colleague from Louisiana, Senator John Breaux. He got the ball rolling over here in the Senate. I will never forget him coming to me way back in the 107th Congress and telling me that I needed to work with him on the Elder Justice Act because it would make a tremendous difference for older Americans throughout the country. He and I introduced the Elder Justice Act back in the 107th Congress and ever since then, the bill has been reintroduced each subsequent Congress.

I also want to acknowledge the fine work of the Elder Justice Coalition, led by Bob Blancato, its national coordinator.

To date, the Elder Justice Coalition has close to 550 members and has done an incredible job advocating for the passage of this legislation.

This Congress, for the first time, the Elder Justice Act has been seriously considered by the House. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee considered the Elder Justice Act and it appears that it will be voted out of that committee this week. In the Senate, the legislation has been reported unanimously by the Finance Committee in both the 109th and 108th Congress; however, it has never been approved by the full Senate. As far as I am concerned, this year is going to be different. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this legislation will pass the Senate and be signed into law before the 110th Congress adjourns.

Senator Lincoln and I are going to work with Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley to schedule a markup on this bill sometime this summer.

Over the past couple of years, I worked very closely with Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and his staff to address the concerns that the administration has raised regarding our bill. Last Congress, I felt like we had some fruitful discussions and progress was made. Secretary Leavitt is a good friend of mine and he knows how important it is to me, Senator Lincoln and senior citizens across the country to have this legislation signed into law. The Secretary assured me that he and his staff would continue to work with us on this bill.

So I intend to initiate discussions with the administration once again in the hope that we will be able to come to agreement. And I think we are very close.

I have had many ask why does there appear to be such a dramatic increase in elder abuse in the United States. Because there is so little data on elder abuse, it is difficult to know the answer to that question.

Quite honestly, I believe that more and more people are taking notice.

In the past, there has been no data collection of elder abuse--I find that quite disturbing. The purpose of our legislation is to make changes in the law so we have more precise numbers on how many seniors are being exploited financially, being neglected or being physically or mentally abused.

Findings from the often cited National Elder Abuse Incidence Study suggest that more than 500,000 Americans aged 60 and above were victims of domestic abuse in 1996. Studies show the amount of Federal dollars spent on abuse and neglect of elders is substantially smaller than that spent on child and domestic abuse.

Elder abuse is a profoundly personal tragedy for its victims--let me cite a case from my home state of Utah. In Utah and across the country, elderly Americans are being exploited and essentially being swindled out of thousands of dollars. A local news station in Salt Lake recently had a story that discussed check scams and how seniors are typically the target of these questionable operations.

In Utah alone, the money that people have lost due to these types of scams has quadrupled over the last 3 years. And while many of these operations have addresses in the U.S., they typically originate overseas.

For example, a check has been made out to a Salt Lake City senior for close to $4,000. The senior is told that he has been chosen to be a secret shopper and has the chance to win thousands of dollars. He is told that he may keep $500, no strings attached, but he must wire more than $3,000 back to them in order to get the $500. Because this senior sees the chance to win $500, he sends the check for $3,000 and loses all of his money.

According to the postal inspector, once a person responds to these scams, he or she is put on what is called a sucker's list and continues to be promised that hundreds and even thousands of dollars could be gained if a check is sent. In Utah, 6 to 700 checks are reported to be sent to these organizations each month.

The Elder Justice Act would help the Federal Government collect data on how many senior citizens are being financially exploited, mentally and physically abused and neglected.

This chart illustrates the dramatic difference in dollars spent on elder abuse compared to child abuse and domestic abuse.

Ninety-one percent, or $6.7 billion, is spent on child abuse, 7 percent, or $520 million on domestic abuse and only 2 percent, or $153.5 million, is spent on elder abuse. Considering the high numbers of the population above age 60, it astounds me the small percentage the Government is willing to dedicate to ending elder abuse.

The Elder Justice Act aims to address this serious problem.

Our bill would provide Federal resources to support State and community efforts on the front lines dedicated to fighting elder abuse with scarce resources and fragmented systems.

It directs the Federal Government to provide leadership to the States and takes an important first step by calling on the Federal Government to create an appropriate way to collect relevant data on elder abuse so we have a better handle on how prevalent elder abuse is among our neighbors, our friends, and our relatives.

It assures adequate public-private infrastructure and resources to prevent, detect, treat, understand, intervene in and, where appropriate, prosecute elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

With more than 76 million baby boomers retiring over the next three decades, we cannot wait any longer for this legislation to pass. Older Americans deserve nothing less. I know that it is extremely important to folks back home in Utah.

In closing, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation so we can provide older Americans the same protections that we provide to our children and victims of domestic violence. Because we are not aging gradually, our response must be immediate--we cannot afford to wait for another Congress to end without approving this legislation.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, men are respectable only as they respect. May we strive to be more respectable people by showing respect to those who deserve it the most: our older Americans.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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