Recognizing and Honoring America's Seniors
RECOGNIZING AND HONORING AMERICA'S SENIORS -- (House of Representatives - September 19, 2006)
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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of our Nation's senior citizens.
Senior citizens are a vital part of society to whom we have a responsibility of ensuring both economic and physical well-being. Seniors provide vital links to our past as well as serve as the caregivers to over 6.1 million of the Nation's children.
I recognize the importance of caring for our elderly and providing them with the services they need to live independently. I have a Seniors and Eldercare Task Force, composed of an outstanding group of experts who advise me on key issues of importance to the seniors in my district. They advised me on key issues for the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act.
Within the bipartisan process surrounding this bill, I am pleased that I was successful in including important changes to the act. My local experts said that seniors raising their grandchildren needed great access to financial support and information about programs for which they are eligible. They said that seniors needed more services in their communities to avoid spending down their assets to qualify for Medicaid. They said that we needed a greater focus on mental health and elder justice. The reauthorization of the Older Americans Act addresses these needs, and I hope that this important legislation will pass this Congress.
However, we must do more to assist grandparent caregivers. These grandparents make up 5.7 million households living with over 6.1 million children, evidence that many of these grandparents are oftentimes caring for more than one child. In my congressional district, there are over 10,000 grandparents who are responsible for their grandchildren's needs. Indeed, the Seventh District of Illinois, my congressional district, has the highest percentage of children living with grandparents in the Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that you can measure the greatness of a society by how well it treats its young, how well it treats its old, and how well it treats those who have difficulty caring for themselves. In this case when we provide grandparents, senior citizens, with the opportunity to help raise their grandchildren, then we are doing the Nation a great service.
I thank all of those who rose to support this legislation.
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