they are today. However, these retired people must still cope with today's high and rising costs for food, housing, medical care, clothing, and so on. Many receive benefits as low as $64 a month.

3. Large numbers do not qualify for social security and, therefore, get no benefits.

At the ninth annual convention of the National Council of Senior Citizens which I attended in Washington last month, some crucial facts were presented:

Some 53 percent of all elderly single individuals and 10 percent of all families of senior citizens have an income of less than $30 a week. One-third of America's poor are actually to be found among our senior citizens. Because of their age, this group must spend proportionately three times as much of their income on medical care as younger persons. It is natural then, that the rates of malnutrition and illness which confine the victims primarily to their homes are extremely high among those 65 years of age and older.

And I have seen, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, and seen in this area, not very far from areas of great affluence, scenes out there that make the heart cry; that Americans have to live in that manner.

Many elderly persons are experiencing alienation, complicated by low income and loneliness. This often results in a lack of ability or motivation to prepare nutritionally sound meals for themselves. Many elderly persons do not know the importance of adequate nutrition or how to select and prepare balanced meals on their limited budgets. It is clearly evident that a lack of nourishing and adequate foods can result not only in physical deterioration, but also in serious mental and emotional difficulties.

The Congress has learned, through a series of 3-year research and demonstration programs carried out under title IV of the Older Americans Act that adequate nutrition programs are instrumental in offering senior citizens the means to a dignified and healthy life. Twentyseven of the projects placed particular emphasis on overcoming the social problems underlying inadequate diets among older people, testing techniques for nutrition programs not only to improve diet but to enhance self-esteem and self-sufficiency. The need for increased social relations was found great among those 69 years of age and older.

Based on data for 2,064 participants in these programs, it was found that the average age was 72, and the total annual income including public assistance was $1,200 a year or about $23 a week.

Broken down into various living costs, it provided only $7.60 a week for all food needs; $7.60 a week for housing; $3.80 for medical and dental care; less than $2 for utilities and less than $2 a week for all other living expenses.

If time permitted, I could draw from my experiences heart-rendering pictures of the personal tragedies that lie behind these figures. But I am sure that the witnesses who follow me, and who have been working with the senior citizens and, in fact, the people themselves will deal more eloquently with the personal aspects.

Mr. Chairman, it is no accident that the opening of these hearings on H.R. 17763 are being held here in Dade County. It was actually the success of this pilot program in revealing the need and offering

solutions which provided much of the impetus for the creation of the bill we are now discussing.

The Research and Development projects here enriched the lives of some 500 senior citizens each day for 3 years. They were delightful meals and very happily presented social occasions, as well, for those who attended. The use of senior aides drawn from the senior citizens themselves in a program of mutual self-help not only made the hot meal program a success but also assisted in assuring many elderly citizens the delivery of the surplus Government foods. It is a fact that without that aid many would not have been able to get to the home the monthly surplus food allowance. In 1 month, a single senior aide delivered 155 meals to the homes of those who were too ill to go to the senior center.

Every study of the problem of senior citizens only adds evidence to the pressing need for adequate nutrition and adequate social relationships. I refer, for example, to the conclusions of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health; the hearings of the Special Committee on Aging in 1963, chaired by the Honorable Harrison Williams, U.S. Senator from New Jersey; the work of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs in 1969, chaired by the Honorable George S. McGovern, U.S. Senator from South Dakota. Accordingly, I am proposing legislation to authorize the establishment of a nationwide low-cost meal program for elderly persons in strategically located centers which would provide an atmosphere allowing opportunity for social contacts and providing activities and referral services. This legislation would seek to approach the broad scope of the problems of the aged and as such I am using the concept of "program" to include not only the distribution of meals, but also transportation, food purchase and preparation, staffing, outreach, and evaluation.

As this program would seek to approach the two-fold problem of providing both proper nutrition and social contacts, it is our belief that the only criteria necessary to be eligible to participate should be the age of 65 or over which have been delineated in the bill. No other distinction is made, as demonstration projects have shown that persons financially and physically able to provide themselves with nutritious meals would not use this program; however, the small percentage who would participate would be doing so for the social and ancillary benefits and those should not be denied to anyone.

Despite the financial benefits which would be derived by participation in this program, we have included a provision in the bill preventing any Federal or State government to treat the benefits of this program as income for the purpose of denying full retirement or welfare benefits to the elderly participant. The intent of this legislation would be defeated if a person were denied social security or public assistance because he chose to use the opportunities afforded him under the bill.

Today, I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize the application of the bill at the local level. Although details of the program are left to the discretion of State agencies and local recipients of a grant or contract, certain standards and essential requirements vital to the purpose of the bill are included.

In my bill, only a "public or private nonprofit institution or organization, agency, or political subdivision of a State" would be eligible to apply for a grant to the administering State agency. This would allow local sponsorship by senior centers, churches, schools, local governments, and other appropriate community organizations, thereby utilizing a broad variety of community resources and encouraging wide participation.

Ideally, the site would be located as close as possible to the residence of the eligible individual and preferably within walking distance. Where this is not possible, provision is made for the authorization of the use of the grant to cover the cost of public transportation to bring persons to the centers where such cost is not covered by other Federal grants. This provision is essential because many of the people who would benefit the most from the program are the very people who have difficulty in mobility.

The basic purpose of the meal is to provide the individual with necessary dietary requirements. The grantee is required to provide "5 or more days per week, at least one hot meal per day and any additional meals, hot or cold, each of which assures the minimum of 1⁄2 of the daily recommended dietary allowance." I am hopeful that grantees who serve only one meal per day will provide instead at least 1/2 of the daily recommended dietary allowance, but such additional requirements is left to the discretion of the State agency and the local grantee. The first incentive for participation in the program would be the meal itself which the elderly person cannot duplicate at home because he lacks the knowledge, skill, motivation, or financial resources. Later, he may find himself returning also for companionship and activity. As a result of the participation in the meal phase of the program, the elderly person becomes oriented to the social aspects and psychologically receptive to the ancillary benefits.

Among the ancillary benefits are: nutrition training, health and welfare counseling by persons knowledgable in geriatrics and referral services. Frequent contact with other participants and staff would dispel fear, suspicion, and loneliness, and all these factors would achieve what I consider the most important aspect of this bill—integrating the elderly person back into society.

For the homebound persons who are unable to take advantage of the program in a social setting, provision is made for home delivery so that the individual is not denied the meal itself.

Another way of assuring maximum participation is the requirement that grantees assume responsibility for informing the community, particularly the eligible individuals, of the existence of the program.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, as this program seeks to alleviate several of the problems of the elderly simultaneously, I have included a provision which would give preference to persons 65 years of age or older for staff positions, if qualified. The advantages of such an arrangement are obvious. The participating individual would not only receive the benefit of the program but would actually become involved in its operation and thereby become involved in the community.

As experience in this field has shown, there are functions in the operation of this program which can be carried out more successfully by a profitmaking organization having skills and resources not available

to the grantee. For this reason a provision was included allowing the grantee to enter into contract with profitmaking organizations for more efficient management and to lower costs. For example, meals delivered by caterers to the grantee may be more efficient than maintaining kitchen equipment at each site.

A State which desired to participate in this program would be required to designate a single State agency for the administration of its State plan. The State agency would in turn be authorized to provide grants to local organizations, meeting the requirements set forth in the bill, "up to 90 per centum of the cost of the purchase and preparation of the food; delivery of the meals; and other reasonable expenses as may be incurred in the providing nutrition services." The exact matching requirement would be left to the discretion of the State agency.

The additional 10 percent or more of the cost would be the responsibility of the grantees. This expense may be met by sources such as donations, fund drives, other outside income, and the price of the meal itself. The State agency, however, would determine the maximum the grantee would be permitted to charge for each meal, taking into consideration the income ranges of eligible individuals in the local community and the other sources of income available to the grantee. With this arrangement a State agency would have the flexibility to see that poorer communities would receive a greater portion of the total cost by grant and be permitted to charge a lesser sum to participants. On the other hand, a more prosperous grantee with a greater ability to meet the cost of the program and perhaps with participants who need the social aspects more than they do the nutritional aspects, would receive a lesser portion of the cost and be permitted to charge a larger sum for the meal. Conceivably, one grantee may provide a nutritious meal at a cost to the participant of 10 cents, while another would charge $1. This method would also free the State agency to dispense its funds in a manner so as to cover as wide a base as possible by area and by population, and also insure responsibility for effective implementation of the program.

Mr. Chairman, I want to mention one other important provision of the bill, which provides for the evaluation of "the effectiveness, feasibility, and the cost of each particular type of such program." It is my belief that any new Federal program should undergo evaluation for purposes of compliance with the legislative intent of the bill and I specified this requirement to assure the highest degree of operation at all levels.

Allow me again to tell you what great pleasure it is to have the distinguished chairman and the distinguished member here today to give their consideration of this bill. Your distinguished committee, which has been responsible for many fine legislative achievements in the past, will make a valuable contribution to the welfare of our citizens if you find it in your discretion to report to your full committee the measure which we considered here today. Thank you so much. (Statement referred to follows:)

STATEMENT OF HON. DANTE B. FASCELL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, it is indeed appropriate that these hearings on H.R. 17763 begin here in Miami, since, for many Americans, retiring to Florida represents a life-long goal.

This bill, originally introduced by my distinguished colleague, Congressman Claude Pepper, would provide federal support for the establishment, maintenance, operation and expansion of low-cost meal programs, nutrition training and education programs. The proposal would provide vitally needed assistance to our senior citizens, and I was happy to cosponsor with Congressman Pepper H.R. 18460, legislation identical to H.R. 17763.

We must face the grim reality that life for a large percentage of present day America's elderly lack the security-both emotional and material—that they richly deserve. Today, with the increased tendency toward urban living, many of our young people move away from home to live their lives independently. It is not that our young people care less about the old than did their predecessors. It is just that the high cost of living leaves these young families with little to contribute toward the economic support of the elderly and that distance often prohibits their contributing much in the way of companionship.

Despite our many efforts and our tropical climate, for most people retiring in Florida, as elsewhere, the actuality does not measure up to the dream. The problems here are, in most respects, similar to the problems confronting senior citizens elsewhere in our land: poverty, deteriorating health, and loneliness.

H.R. 17763 would provide an exciting and effective method of attacking these complex and interwoven problems.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to address the Members of the Senior AIDES National Advisory Committee here in Miami. The Senior AIDES had implemented, under a Title IV grant administered by the Administration on Aging, a program that furnished hot lunches at low cost to 500 senior citizens daily. This pilot project was extremely successful. At that time I expressed the hope that this program, or a similar one, would be refunded for the Miami area and made available throughout the country to low income elderly-and not solely to those cities participating in the pilot projects. H.R. 17763, if enacted, could accomplish that goal.

One need not be an expert to know that good nutrition is vital to good health. This is of particular importance to two segments of our population-the young and the old. The young require a well-balanced diet to grow; the old require nutritious food to aid the body in fighting the deterioration which comes with age. Unfortunately, a larger proportion of our older population is not obtaining an adequate diet. One reason for this is the low income level of the older population. However, social and psychological reasons are perhaps as important as economic ones. As you all know, many of our elderly live alone. For them, it requires particular effort to select and prepare a well-balanced diet, and the effort sometimes does not seem worthwhile when the meal is to be eaten in the loneliness of one's room. Others are thwarted in their attempts to eat adequately because advanced age has brought health problems which make shopping for and preparing meals an extremely exhausting and discouraging effort. Others simply do not know the requirements of good nutrition.

The program created by H.R. 17763 and H.R. 18460 would provide a wellbalanced meal for these persons each day. In addition, educational activities would show them easy and low cost ways of completing their daily dietary requirements.

Further, the Centers which would be established answer a need which is for many the greatest burden of aging-loneliness. Part of the program concept is the creation of an atmosphere of friendliness. The Centers are meant to be places where one can make new friends and enjoy one's meal in the company of persons with like interests. The value of psychological uplift an older person can obtain from such a place cannot be measured in dollars.

The proposal does, however, provide economic assistance. By providing low-cost well balanced meals, it allows the elderly to cut down on their expenditures, thereby increasing the amount of money left over for other expenses. Thus, the bill seeks to aid all older people, not just the poor ones.

It is not without foundation that we predict the success of the program of nutritious meals for the elderly. Witnesses here recount the success of a pilot project, similar to the one this bill advocates; the success of the Dade county project has been repeated wherever it has been tried, in rural as well as urban communities. I feel that the program will be an equal success on a national scale. Mr. Chairman, I stand in full support of H.R. 17763 and urge its recommendation by this Committee.

Thank you.

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