Dignity in Aging Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last night we passed by unanimous consent legislation to revise and extend for 5 more years the key programs that Congress established under the Older Americans Act of 1965. I cosponsored the final version of this measure, which passed our Chamber as a Senate amendment to the Dignity in Aging Act, H.R. 4334.

I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Senator Collins for leading the bicameral negotiations that made this bipartisan compromise possible. I expect that the other Chamber will soon accept the changes we made to their version of this legislation, so that Congress can send the final version to the President's desk in fairly short order.

For over five decades, the Older Americans Act has made resources available to the Aging Network and States for services to the elderly and disabled. An example is the nutrition services program authorized under title III, which makes resources available for home-delivered meals, enabling the homebound to remain independent. This statute also helps older Americans live independently by supporting community-based services, making information about care options available to family caregivers, and supporting the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.

As I continue my 99 county meetings across the State of Iowa each year, I welcome the feedback and ideas I get from local residents to help make our communities safer and stronger for older Americans. I also want to take this opportunity to commend the members of the Elder Justice Coalition, as well as groups such as the Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging, for their efforts in this area. These organizations and their members deserve recognition for their continued work on behalf of the Nation's older Americans and their contributions to this year's Older Americans Act extension.

In a decade, all of our Nation's baby boomers will have reached the age of 65 or older, and this demographic shift creates new challenges for our communities. With this in mind, I am currently working with my colleagues on other bipartisan initiatives to improve the quality of life for older Iowans, including legislation that would extend the Elder Justice Act. As the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I wrote the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act to curb elder abuse and beef up tools and resources within local communities to help prevent financial fraud and exploitation of older citizens. For those Iowans who enjoy working and need to continue working to pay the bills, I have also championed legislation to strengthen age-related workplace discrimination laws.

Mr. President, as noted by the former head of the Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging, ``The Older Americans Act provides the foundation that allows Iowa to continue to be a great place to for Iowans to call home.'' I want to again thank my colleagues for working with me in a bipartisan way on this legislation to improve the lives of older Americans in Iowa and across the United States.

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