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    National Committee Commends Members of Congress for Supporting the Senior Independence Act (S.438/H.R. 5293)

    The Honorable Howard P. "Buck" McKeon
    Chairman,
    House Committee on Education and the Workforce
    2181 Rayburn House Office Building
    Washington , DC 20515

    The Honorable George Miller
    Ranking Member
    House Committee on Education and the Workforce
    2101 Rayburn House Office Building
    Washington , DC 20515

    Dear Representatives McKeon and Miller:

    On behalf of the 4.6 million members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to commend you for your bipartisan efforts to secure passage of H.R. 5293, the Senior Independence Act, which reauthorizes the Older Americans Act for five years.

    The National Committee has been urging Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the Older Americans Act this year, and this was the number one recommendation of the delegates to the December 2005 White House Conference on Aging. Today's passage of the Senior Independence Act is an important step toward the goal of reauthorizing the Older Americans Act, which provides programs such as meals, transportation, in-home services, help for family caregivers, and senior employment to help Americans fulfill the desire we all share – being able to remain as independent and productive as possible in our own homes and communities as we age.

    As part of the Older Americans Act reauthorization, the National Committee supports substantial, across-the-board increases in authorized funding levels for OAA programs, and we are very concerned that the House-passed bill does not include specific levels of funding authority. Older Americans Act programs have lost ground over the past 20 years, and they will require sustained funding increases, sufficient to meet the growth in our elderly population and to keep pace with inflation, in order to fulfill the promise of keeping older Americans as independent as possible in their homes and communities.

    Cordially,

    Barbara B. Kennelly
    President and CEO

    The National Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that acts in the interests of its membership through advocacy, education, services, grassroots efforts and the leadership of the board of directors and professional staff. The work of the National Committee is directed toward developing a secure retirement for all Americans.