grown in proportion to the increasing number of older people in our population. Such remedies run the gamut from "geriatric vitamin capsules" and quack health diets to contraptions for the cure of cancer and other diseases. The "take" in this dreadful business totals $500 million a year. Fighting such quacks is a day-to-day job for the Food and Drug Administration.

I think this is a particular problem since the income of older people is small, so any extent to which it is diverted from their primary needs by much of this kind of attempt at quick treatment, and so on, is par ticularly unfortunate.

Older persons face serious problems of getting and retaining jobs, as we all know. Today their problems are greatly intensified by the large number of young people entering the work force and by the breathtaking speed of technological invention and changes. Legislation enacted during the past year, at the request of the President, will assist older workers. Special counseling and placement services are being stepped up in public employment offices throughout the country.

The Area Redevelopment Act of 1961 and the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962 will, we believe, help to create new employment and to extend opportunities for occupational retraining for those whose skills have become obsolete and for the thousands of women entering the labor force after their children have grown up. The proposed new $600 million public works program in areas of high unemployment and the proposed new standby authority the President is requesting for initiation of $2 billion of public works projects in the event of a recession would provide additional help to some older people, in case it had to be used.

There are many other programs affecting aging people going on in both our Department and in the other agencies of Government which I shall not take the time to describe or to mention. They are all fully dealt with in the booklet that you have before you. What I have given you, however, I believe is sufficient to sketch for you the broad and comprehensive scope of the on-going activities which the Federal Government is engaged in in the field of older people.

In summarizing what is being done to help our older citizens, I certainly do not mean to imply that all their needs are being met. I do contend, however, that we are making progress particularly in the very fundamental needs of income security, health facilities, employment, housing, and rehabilitation. We have built gradually and carefully on the existing governmental structure, mindful all the while of the proper role of the Federal Government and the role of State and local governments.

We need always to remember that our senior citizens are not all right here under the roof of the Federal Government. They are in the cities and towns and communities all over the country. Problems of the aged are complex. They will always be complex because aging is a part of life and life has many facets. Some persons lament what they see as a fragmentation of programs and services. They get frustrated because there is not some simple solution for all the problems of aging wrapped up in one neat package and shipped to them prepaid.

Major responsibility for coordination and provision of community services rests with the States and localities. It was for this purpose

that the special staff on aging has encouraged the formation of State commissions and has stimulated these commissions to urge the creation of similar coordinating mechanisms in the various communities. Better coordination of Federal programs and services is something we in the Department will work hard to achieve. In our opinion, it must come through strengthening the existing governmental structure, however, rather than from some new group superimposed on present departments and agencies with active operating programs and duplicating their functions.

In this connection, I am particularly happy to report to you that the President is announcing today that he has issued an Executive order which will convert the Federal Council on Aging into a President's Council on Aging with increased stature and clear-cut responsibilities.

This new President's Council on Aging will be composed of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, as Chairman, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, and the Treasury, the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, the Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. The heads of other departments and agencies will be invited to meetings at which a significant matter within or affecting the area of their responsibility is being considered.

The President's Council on Aging is given several important functions. It will maintain continuing study of the overall responsibilities of the Federal Government in relation to the problems of aging and will make recommendations to the President on policy and program matters, particularly those which cut across department and agency lines. It will identify problem areas which require coordinated action by two or more Federal agencies and make arrangements for appropriate joint or coordinated action. It will promote the sharing and dissemination of information among Federal departments and agencies and between them and State, local, and private agencies and organizations having functions or interests in fields related to the problems of aging. Finally, it will submit to the President, each year, a consolidated report of the activities of the Council and of the several Federal departments having programs in aging.

We are confident that, with this redefinition of authority and emphasis and a strengthening of staff resources, the new President's Council on Aging will rapidly increase its effectiveness in assessing national needs, reviewing, and evaluating current Federal programs, coordinating present activities, and initiating such policy recommendations as may be indicated.

From our considerable experience in the Department, from our conferences with State executives for aging, and from our hundreds of visits to localities-all underwritten by recommendations of the White House Conference on Aging-we believe there are two forms of stimulation and assistance which the Federal Government should offer at the present time: First, intensive and long-term training of specialized personnel to work in the field of aging; and, second, support and encouragement of special demonstration, research, and evaluation projects which would determine the ways and manner in which some of the problems of the aging can best be solved.

The President is today transmitting to the Congress a 5-year program of legislation totaling authorizations of $50 million to reach

these objectives. The proposed bill will do these two things: Support research, demonstrations, and evaluation projects to deal with some of the problems faced by our older people. The projects would generally be carried on by States, local communities, and nonprofit institutions and organizations. Encourage and assist universities, professional schools, and other appropriate institutions, organizations, and agencies to step up their training programs for professional and technical personnel needed to provide the broad range of services required by older people.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Now Mr. Chairman, if I may interrupt at that point, I wonder if it would be possible for Mr. Cohen to give for inclusion at this point in the record the text of the legislation to which you refer, together with any message that the President may send on it? Mr. BAILEY. If there is no objection, we will accept that for inclusion.

Mr. COHEN. I would be very happy to, and I have some extra copies of the proposed bill here, Mr. Chairman, which members of the committee might like to have, and perhaps also, if it is agreeable with you, I could put it at the proper point the President's Executive order establishing the new President's Council.

(The documents referred to follow :)

(Office of the White House Press Secretary, immediate release, May 15, 1962)

EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING THE PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON AGING

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

SECTION 1. (a) There is hereby established the President's Council on Aging (hereinafter referred to as the "Council").

(b) The Council shall be composed of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, who shall be Chairman, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, the Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs.

(c) The Chairman of the Council shall invite the head of any other Federal department or agency to attend any meeting of the Council at which any matter within or affecting the area of responsibility of such department or agency is considered and to be a temporary member with respect to such matter.

SEC. 2. The Council shall:

(a) Maintain a continuing study of the overall responsibilities of the Federal Government with respect to the problems of the aging and make recommendations to the President concerning policies and programs required to meet Federal responsibilities, particularly on matters which do not fall within the jurisdiction of a single agency.

(b) Identify matters which require coordinated action by two or more Federal agencies and make appropriate arrangements for joint or coordinated action, including, as appropriate, conference, joint studies, and the development of recommendations to the President.

(c) Promote the sharing and dissemination of information on the needs of the aging and policies and programs relating to the aging, among Federal departments and agencies and between them and State, local, or private agencies and organizations having functions or interests in fields relating to the problems of the aging.

(d) Prepare an annual consolidated report to the President concerning the activities of the Council and the several Federal departments and agencies having programs relating to the aging.

SEC. 3. (a) Consonant with law, each department or agency represented on the Council shall, as may be necessary for the effectuation of the purpose of this order, furnish assistance to the Council in accordance with Section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945, 59 Stat. 134 (31 U.S.C. 691).

(b) Other Federal departments and agencies are also authorized and directed, to the extent not inconsistent with law, to cooperate with the Council and to

furnish it such information and assistance as it may find necessary in the performance of its functions.

SEC. 4. The Federal Council on Aging, established by a letter from the President to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, dated March 7, 1959, is hereby abolished and that letter is hereby superseded.

THE WHITE HOUSE, May 14, 1962.

JOHN F. KENNEDY.

[ Office of the White House Press Secretary, for release at 12 noon, Eastern Daylight time, May 15, 1962]

The White House today made public the following letter from the President to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. THE WHITE HOUSE, May 14, 1962.

Hon. LYNDON B. JOHNSON,

President of the Senate,

Washington, D.C.

Hon. JOHN W. McCORMACK,

Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: (DEAR MR. SPEAKER:) I am transmitting herewith a draft of a bill entitled the "Senior Citizens Act of 1962." The bill has two principal purposes:

First, it will provide assistance for research, demonstration, and evaluation projects leading to the development of new and improved programs to help older persons. These projects will, in most instances, be under the control of the States, local communities, and nonprofit institutions and organizations.

Secondly, it will encourage and assist universities, professional schools and other institutions, organizations and agencies to increase their programs for training those professional and technical people needed to provide the broad range of services required by older people.

The life expectancy of our population, the number of older people, and the number of years that our citizens spend in retirement are increasing. By 1970, approximately 20 million persons will be over age 65. Many of our older citizens face special problems resulting from reduced incomes, inadequate housing, large medical bills, declining health, unproductive leisure time, and lack of opportunity to continue their useful service to society. While our present programs are helping them to meet their most serious problems, important gaps remain in services for our older people.

The purpose of the proposed Senior Citizens Act of 1962 is to enable the Federal Government to help fill these gaps in existing programs through participation in a major cooperative effort with the States and local communities to accelerate efforts already underway to improve the living conditions of this important segment of our population. It will permit the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to assist such activities as (1) community planning of coordinated services for older persons, (2) experimentation and demonstration of techniques for more fully using the leisure time of retired persons through community service projects and educational and recreational programs, and (3) training of gerontologists and other specialists needed to expand services to the aged.

For these purposes, an annual authorization for $10 million in appropriations for 5 years is requested.

Sincerely,

JOHN F. KENNEDY.

A BILL To provide assistance for research or training projects leading to development of new or improved programs to help older persons, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Senior Citizens Act of 1962".

FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress hereby finds and declares that the life expectancy of our population, the number and proportion of aged people in our population,

and the number of years that aged persons spend in retirement all have vastly increased and may be expected to continue to increase; that too many older persons do not enjoy as good health as modern medical science can make possible; that too many are dependent or fear that they will become dependent; that too many lack suitable housing and opportunities for adult education, for recreation, and for making the contributions to our communities and to our society of which they are capable and which would make their own lives more rewarding; that all of these shortcomings in the way of life of our older people deprive our communities and our Nation of a contribution that would strengthen and enrich our society.

(b) The policy of the Federal Government and the purposes of this Act are to assist in developing new or improved methods and techniques, and in training personnel needed, to make it possible for our older persons to enjoy a higher standard of living and equal opportunity for gainful activity, better health and rehabilitation, more suitable housing, and to otherwise enjoy more meaningful and useful lives, and to encourage the coordination of efforts among governmental and nongovernmental education, employment, health, housing, welfare and other agencies at National, State, and local levels with the objective of providing, among other things, more effective community services for our older persons.

RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATION, AND EVALUATION PROJECTS

SEC. 3. The Secretary is authorized to carry out the purposes of this Act through grants to any public or nonprofit agency, organization, or institution and contracts with any such agency, organization, or institution or with any individual

(a) to study current patterns and conditions of living of older people and identify factors which are beneficial or detrimental to the wholesome and meaningful living of such persons;

(b) to develop or demonstrate new approaches, techniques, and methods which hold promise of substantial contribution toward wholesome and meaningful living for older persons; or

(c) to evaluate these approaches, techniques, and methods, as well as others which may assist older persons to enjoy wholesome and meaningful living and to continue to contribute to the strength and welfare of our Nation.

TRAINING PROJECTS

SEC. 4. The Secretary is authorized to carry out the purposes of this Act through grants to or contracts with any public or nonprofit agency, organization, or institution for the specialized training of persons employed or preparing for employment in programs related to the purposes of this Act.

PAYMENTS OF GRANTS

SEC. 5. (a) To the extent he deems it appropriate, the Secretary shall require the recipient of any grant under this Act to contribute money, facilities, or services for carrying out the project for which such grant was made.

(b) Any grant under this Act for any project made from an appropriation for any fiscal year shall include such amounts as the Secretary determines to be necessary for succeeding fiscal years for completion of the Federal financial participation in the cost of such project as approved by the Secretary, except that no grant for any project may include amounts for more than five years.

(c) Payments under this Act may be made in installments and in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the Secretary, and shall be made on such conditions as he finds necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

SEC. 6. (a) (1) For the purpose of advising the Secretary on matters of general policy in the administration of this Act, and related activities, there is hereby established in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare an Advisory Committee on Aging, consisting of the Secretary or his designee, who shall be chairman, and thirty persons, not otherwise in the employ of the United States, appointed by the Secretary without regard to the civil service laws. Members shall be selected from among persons who are experienced in or have demonstrated particular interest in special problems of the aging.