am honored to testify in its behalf, and I am firmly convinced of the necessity for its prompt enactment by the Congress. As Mr. Fogarty said on August 6 of this year when he introduced the bill:

With the introduction of this bill, I must express my deep concern that action has been so long delayed in an area so vital to the social and economic status of the Nation's 18 million persons over age 65. It is my honest conviction that few issues have come before the Congress that have such a great potential, not only for the individuals affected by the legislation but also for the Nation that can only benefit from the untapped manpower reserve that is represented among the ranks of our older citizens.

It is unfortunate indeed, Mr. Chairman, that we have been so slow to recognize this potential of our senior citizens which could be effectively utilized for the benefit of all the people of this country. These are perilous and serious times in which we live, and unless every member of our national community is able to make his maximum contribution to the cause of democracy, then we have committed a cardinal offense against the principles upon which this Republic is founded. Our older citizens are ready and anxious to make these contributions. They need the leadership and organization which this bill provides so that their efforts can be of real benefit and significance. The proposed Administration of Aging within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the program of grants to States and public or nonprofit private agencies, and the establishment of ar Advisory Committee on Older Americans would all serve to coordinate and stimulate senior citizen contributions to our nationa welfare.

Mr. Fogarty deserves a great deal of credit for his foresight and interest in sponsoring this measure. I urge the members of this subcommittee and all my colleagues in the Congress to join him in this noble and vital undertaking.

Mr. DENT. Thank you, Congressman St Germain, for appearing before this subcommittee.

Our next witness is the Honorable William C. Cramer. Congressman Cramer represents the 12th Congressional District of Florida. Congressman, will you have a seat at the witness table?

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM C. CRAMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Chairman, I am today testifying on behalf of my bill, H.R. 318, which provides for the establishment of a Bureau of Senior Citizens within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The bill provides for an Assistant Secretary to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, to direct this Bureau. The bill provides for the authorization of $2 million, to remain available until expended, to conduct and encourage research and studies into the fields of gerontology, geriatrics, and allied problems of senior citizens; to assist in the operation of projects to help senior citizens, and for other purposes.

Mr. Chairman, I have a very devoted interest in the problems of senior citizens, particularly in view of the fact that my district, the 12th District of Florida, has more senior citizens percentagewise than any other congressional district in the United States. I have thus had an opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of what some of the

problems of senior citizens are, and have devoted many hours of my tenure in office in an effort to meet the challenge offered by some of these problems.

Since the turn of the century, our total national population has a little more than doubled, but in the same period senior citizens increased 312-fold, due to the sharply increased life expectancy of the individual. Senior citizens have become the fastest growing segment of our population, and this growth is expected to continue and reach approximately 21 million in 1975.

During the last 50 years, our national economy has moved from one based primarily upon agriculture to one of huge industrialization, creating many new and unanticipated social problems, particularly with respect to our senior citizens. Because of their age, they have been denied the opportunity of gainful work by being compelled to retire prematurely. And in this connection, there has been a failure to assist them in rehabilitating themselves.

As a result, many of our senior citizens have inadequate financial resources to maintain themselves and their families as independent and self-respecting members of their communities, are unable to find adequate housing and healthful recreation activities for themselves and their families, are ofttimes confronted with disabling health and medical problems, and sometimes driven by frustration and despair to private and public mental institutions, are often forced into positions of isolation and lonesomeness, and are placed in increasing numbers on old-age assistance rolls.

It is, therefore, essential that such trends be determined by further study and checked by concerted and comprehensive efforts to formulate, and put into operation, programs which will permit our older people to continue to lead productive, proud, and independent lives. Programs which will restore and rehabilitate many of them to useful, happy, and dignified positions among their neighbors, which will enhance the vigor and vitality of the communities, and which will prevent further growth and aggravation of their problems with resulting increased social, financial, and medical burdens. Coordination of existing Federal programs, and a study of their interrelationship, and an authority to accomplish this, is needed.

The primary responsibility for caring for and working out the problems of our older persons is that of the States and local communities; however, it is the purpose of my bill to aid and advise the States in developing long-range plans and, so far as practicable, in helping to solve the problems of senior citizens through projects which will help

First, to assure to senior citizens an equal opportunity with others to engage in gainful employment which they are physically and mentally able to perform.

Second, to enable senior citizens to achieve a retirement income sufficient for healthful living on a reasonable standard and for participation in community life as happy self-respecting citizens.

Third, to provide senior citizens, so far as possible, with the opportunity of living in a community of their own choosing in their own homes, or when this is not feasible, in suitable substitute private homes; and in the case of such persons who need care that cannot be given them in their own or other private homes, to provide them

with the opportunity to live in cooperative service projects or institutions that are as homelike as possible and have high standards of

care.

Fourth, senior citizens to receive adequate nutrition, preventive medicine, and medical care adapted to the conditions and economic ability of their years.

Fifth, to rehabilitate and to restore to independent useful lives in their homes, to the fullest extent possible, senior citizens who are chronically ill, physically disabled, mentally disturbed, or incapacitated for other reasons.

Sixth, to assist senior citizens to have access to social groups and to participate with those of other ages in recreational, cultural, religious, and civic activities.

Seventh, to assure that senior citizens, in planning for retirement and meeting the crisis of their later years, will have the benefits of such services as counseling, information, vocational retraining, and social casework.

Eighth, to relieve the problems of senior citizens through an increase of research on the various aspects of aging and the development of special courses in schools and departments of medicine, nursing, clinical psychology, and social work to train professional workers in the field of aging, geriatrics, and gerontology.

Mr. Chairman, I feel so strongly about this problem that I cannot emphasize too greatly the need for legislation in this field, and urgently request the members of this committee to act favorably on my bill. Mr. DENT. Congressman Cramer, it has been a pleasure to hear your testimony. Thank you for appearing here today.

We will now hear the statement of our colleague, the Honorable Clement J. Zablocki of the State of Wisconsin.

STATEMENT OF HON. CLEMENT J. ZABLOCKI, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

Mr. ZABLOCKI. Mr. Chairman, at the outset I wish to express my appreciation to you and the other members of the subcommittee for giving me an opportunity to express my views on assistance to the aged. The subcommittee is to be commended highly for giving active consideration to the problems which beset that large and important segment of our country's population represented by our elderly citizens.

Few of the nearly 18 million persons in the United States who are age 65 or older fully escape the difficulties and uncertainties which old age brings.

They plague the healthy as well as the sick, the rich as well as the poor, the self-sustaining as well as the dependent.

The problems of the aging, moreover, cut across State and community boundaries. Affecting almost 10 percent of the Nation's population, these problems are national in scope and can only be effectively dealt with on a nationwide basis.

First, let us pinpoint the areas where particularly important difficulties exist. These are, in my opinion, three: Housing; health care; and employment.

HOUSING FOR THE AGED

If dignity is to accompany old age, then our senior citizens must be adequately housed.

Today, unfortunately, many are not. Despite lifetime habits of frugality and saving, many of our older men and women are doomed to live out their lives in housing which is considerably below what could be considered adequate by modern standards.

A national foundation recently conducted a study into the question of how adequately housed people are who receive monthly social security checks. It was found that

Forty-five percent of all aged living in households needed better accommodations.

Eighty percent were living in houses at least 30 years old and 40 percent were living in houses at least 51 years old.

Older citizens in the poorest health, as a general rule, lived in the poorest housing.

Fortunately, heartening progress has been made to provide proper housing for the elderly. State and local governments, often with the help of the Federal Government, have constructed developments specifically for the aged.

Private groups such as labor unions, professional associations, and fraternal organizations have been active in providing housing for the elderly. The efforts of these organizations have been aided by the availability of low interest Federal loans to finance such projects. But more, much more, remains to be done.

HEALTH CARE FOR THE AGED

There is also much to do in the area of better health care for the aged. Both those who favor, and those who oppose hospital and nursing home insurance for the aged through social security have agreed on this matter.

It is obvious to those who study the issue thoroughly that our elderly, despite the swift advance of modern medical science, often live in constant dread of serious illness.

It is my belief that the present situation dictates that some form of medicare legislation be enacted. While medical care insurance is the most pressing need of our elderly it is far from being the only problem.

There is a need for further and intensified research into the diseases which afflict the elderly, such as rheumatism and arthritis.

There is a need for more scientific knowledge into the nature of aging itself. With the advance of medical science it may someday be possible to arrest or retard the aging process itself.

There is a need to develop better social services to assist our elderly in maintaining the positive psychological attitudes that are so important to mental and physical well-being.

EMPLOYMENT

In addition to housing and health care, employment poses distinct problems for many of our aging.

For many individuals today the age of 45 is a point of no return. They know that once they have entered middle age. their chances of

obtaining employment are drastically reduced. Regardless of their abilities, they are forced to stay at jobs which may be less than satisfactory, because no one will consider them for other available positions. Second, it is clear that retirement should not be forced. It should be a matter of choice. Many of our older citizens are able to work, should work and, because of economic necessity, must work.

The experience and skills of our elderly workers, acquired over years of diligent labor, should be put to use for the good of all.

RAPID INCREASE IN POPULATION OF AGING

While the aged, to some extent, have always had difficulties with housing, health care, and employment, these problems have become of acute national concern in recent years because the number of older Americans has risen sharply, and continues to rise.

According to census statistics, the population of the United States. has increased 212 percent since 1900. At the same time the population of those 65 years old and older has increased six times.

It is estimated that the number of persons over 65 increases by 1,000 each day. By 1980 they will number nearly 25 million.

My own State of Wisconsin provides an excellent example of projected increases in this segment of our society. In 1961 there were some 412,000 persons over 65 in Wisconsin.

In 1970, according to estimates, there will be 482,000 such persons in the State, marking a 20-percent increase in just 10 years.

These figures indicate the danger that existing programs to assist the aged soon may become inadequate or outmoded.

EXISTING PROGRAMS

Mr. Chairman, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the advances which have already been made toward assisting the aged.

Probably the most significant accomplishment was the enactment of social security, which has given some security and dignity to the elder years of millions.

Since its enactment under a Democratic President and Congress during the great depression, social security has become firmly entrenched as part of the American way of life.

Recognizing this, Congress has continued the program, expanded its coverage and improved the level of benefits.

Moreover, Congress has enacted other measures designed to assist the aged. These range from grants to nursing homes and similar projects, to the program of special housing for the aged approved in the last Congress, to special tax exemptions.

Pertinent to this latter category is a provision in the tax reduction reform bill before Congress which would allow persons 65 years old or older an exemption from reporting gains realized from the sale of their homes.

I am proud to have been an original sponsor of this provision, and expect that it will be enacted into law.

But inspite of what has, and is, being done to assist our senior citizens, many tasks remain. It is for that reason that your committee study is performing a valuable service.