STATEMENT OF MRS. DORA N. SCHATZ, PRESIDENT, CITIZENS CENTRAL ASSOCIATION OF PHILADELPHIA, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Mrs. SCHATZ. Honorable Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Mrs. Dora N. Schatz, 6703 Glenloch Street, Philadelphia, På. I am president of the Senior Citizens Central Association of Philadelphia and vicinity, which is an independent legislative action organization representing close to 9,000 older persons drawn from Golden Age Clubs, unions, and the general public. I am also founder and secretary of the Northeast Community Geriatric Clinic, Philadelphia, Pa., which is the only free diagnostic clinic of its kind in the United States. As a widow and older person, I wish to speak for myself and for all those whom I represent. I will start by quoting from a statement by the Honorable Congressman John E. Fogarty, of Rhode Island, expressing his impatience with the slow progress being made by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare which says, and I quote: Five years, one White House Conference, twelve regional meetings, and some thirty Senate hearings later, we find ourselves in the same dilemma, or perhaps a more serious one, because we have failed in our promise to the Nation's senior citizens. Here we have the key to the pressing problems of older people and the reason for our wholehearted support of H.R. 10014. We grow weary hearing about the wonderful things that are promised for the future. There is a desperate need for speedy action now. It is ironic to tell us, who are near, or in our seventies and even older, that in 10 years or so we will enjoy the benefits of the 10 objectives outlined in this bill, which I list: (1) An adequate income for retirement in health, honor and dignity. (2) Equal opportunity for employment. (3) The best possibile physical and mental health. (4) Suitable housing. (5) Services to achieve independent living. (6) Full opportunity for meaningful activity. (7) Efficient, coordinated community services when needed. (8) Immediate benefit from proven research knowledge. (9) Freedom, independence, and free exercise of individual initia tive. (10) The right to consideration of their needs and potentials without fragmentation. We smile, and inquire where will we be in 10 years? Mr. BAILEY. You can include the chairman in that observation. Mrs. SCHATZ. That is right. The veterans of our wars are given, and rightfully so, cash bonuses, medical care, assistance in purchasing homes, and other preferences in appreciation for their services to the country. What bonus and consideration is given to the parents of these veterans, those parents in particular who are in the low- and modest-income groups? Let us remember that these parents are of the generation which sent their husbands and sons to fight in three terrible wars, in order to preserve our way of life. Too, this is the generation that labored long and hard to build up the economy and resources of our country. Honorable members of this committee, may I ask: Do you know that many of these parents suffer and die in miserable and understaffed nursing homes? Do you know that millions live alone in substandard housing? Do you know that many, many thousands fill our mental hospitals? Do you know that millions spend the entire time of their retirement years in a constant state of agonizing worry about where they will get the money for surgical and hospital care in the event that such becomes necessary? Do you know that the vast majority of these people depend upon social security payments for their existence and that these payments do not begin to keep pace with the rapid increase in today's living costs? Do you know that in our culture it is a stigma to be labeled "old" and because of this the opportunities for employment are negligible? Do you know that to these people a home of their own is precious above all things? The homes of our young people today are small, their families large. There can be no happy permanent home for them there without disrupting the harmony of all concerned. Do you know that the modern teachings of preventive medicine are of little practical value to these people for they can barely afford to go to a doctor or clinic when really ill? And finally, do you know that countless numbers of these people are homebound because traveling even in their own communities is difficult and expensive? Recreation centers, where the interests of older people are paramount, are few and far between. Today they share these centers usually with young people, and these young people, as is understandable and correct, come first. I hope I have made it clear to this committee in human and personal terms why we enthusiastically support H.R. 10014. We are people who are in a hurry. Thank you for your kind attention. Mr. BAILEY. Thank you for your appearance and for your frank and open statement of the facts of this situation. I believe the committee has a grasp of the situation and we are trying to find legislation that will be satisfactory. Mrs. SCHATZ. Thank you very much. Mr. BAILEY. Thank you very much. The committee will stand in recess until 9:45 o'clock tomorrow. (Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., Wednesday, April 18, 1962, the committee adjourned, to reconvene at 9:45 a.m., Thursday, April 19, 1962.) 87006-62-pt. 1-25 PROBLEMS OF THE AGED AND AGING THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1962 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, GENERAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to recess, in room 429, Old House Office Building, Hon. Cleveland M. Bailey (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Bailey, O'Hara, Hansen, and Frelinghuysen. Present also: Robert McCord, subcommittee staff director; Dr. Deborah Partridge Wolfe, education chief, Committee on Education and Labor; and Ted Ellsworth, special consultant on aged and aging to the General Subcommittee on Education. Mr. BAILEY. The subcommittee will be in order. The committee is convened this morning to take further testimony in the field of problems of the aged and aging. We have a series of bills for consideration and a long list of witnesses for today's session. If we hear all of the witnesses who have indicated a desire to be heard, it will keep us moving right along; and we shall not delay for too much consideration from any of the witnesses, because of the limit of time. Our first witness this morning is Dr. Mary Mulvey of the Rhode Island Commission on Aging. Dr. Mulvey, will you come forward? Will you further identify yourself to the reporter and proceed with your testimony? STATEMENT OF DR. MARY MULVEY, RHODE ISLAND COMMISSION ON AGING Dr. MULVEY. I am Mary C. Mulvey, administrator of the Division on Aging, Executive Department, State of Rhode Island. I was chairman of the Governor's Committee on Aging from my appointment in 1953 until March 1961, when I became administrator of the division on aging. This is an independent unit on aging, responsible only to the Governor. I was a member of the National Advisory Committee for the White House Conference on Aging, and a member of the Planning Committee on State Organization. I hold a doctor of education degree from Harvard University. I have affiliations with many professional and other groups and organizations. I state the official position of His Excellency John A. Notte, Jr., Governor of the State of Rhode Island, the division on aging in his department, the advisory committee to the division on aging, and the people of Rhode Island, when I say that this proposal, H.R. 10014, represents a logical method for planning and programing for our senior adults at the Federal level and deserves prompt passage. The joint bill, H.R. 10014-S. 2779, introduced by Congressman Fogarty and Senator McNamara, presents a new and promising approach to the solution of the problems of our older persons. The aims of the bill signify an effort that will give strength to program development at the National, State, regional, and local levels, and also to individual endeavors. The proposed bill will go far toward helping us achieve goals that will measure up to standards befitting our Nation's values. It will also recognize the dignity and worth of our senior citizens to a degree that will bring reality to the dictum emanating from the White House Conference on Aging: "The test of a people is how it behaves toward the old." The 10-point declaration of objectives for older Americans set forth in the bill aims toward achievement of this goal. Title IV, which describes planning grants, and title V, which describes project grants, offer means toward implementing the 10-point objectives. A major difficulty of program development in the States is lack of funds, for staff, for demonstration in research, and for the many programs and services needed for our older persons. Title IV of the pending legislation for a U.S. Commission on Aging, which authorizes an appropriation to establish and strengthen State units on aging, offers hope to us in the States who are responsible for implementation of the recommendations of the White House Conference on Aging, and for helping to attain the good life for our senior citizens. The need for this help is indicated by the most recent report prepared by the Special Staff on Aging, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, by the recent State Conference of Commissions on Aging held in Washington April 8 to 12. This report, in tabular form, reveals that only eight State units on aging have budget appropriations of $25,000 or more for the fiscal year 1961-62. Eighteen State units have no appropriation, and concomitantly no paid staff. Eight States have no unit on aging at all. Eleven State units are of temporary status and have no appropriation or a very meager one. These data indicate that State governments are not appropriating sufficient funds either to establish a unit on aging or to provide a unit, one established, with funds sufficient to plan or improve programs, assist communities in programing, coordinate and promote programs, and to conduct studies. The Federal Governmentment provides little or no financial help for administration of State units on aging and/or for operating programs in aging, except as the program falls within a few specific areas. Until funds from the Federal Government become available for aging programs specifically, we cannot in the very near future make any significant progress in planning and administration at the State or community level. |