The Honorable Seth Magaziner
United States House of Representatives
1218 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative Magaziner:
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to express our support for H. Res. 1029, your Resolution to reestablish the Permanent Select Committee on Aging in the House. Members of the National Committee come from all walks of life and every political persuasion. What unites them is their passion for protecting and strengthening Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the other programs that are vitally important to older Americans.
With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day – and the number of seniors projected to double by 2050 – the need for supports and services provided under programs like Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, Medicaid and the Older Americans Act will continue to increase. Jurisdiction over these programs is spread among multiple authorizing Committees, and they perform exemplary oversight and legislative functions over matters within their respective jurisdictions. However, it can be challenging for these Committees to fully review issues that cross jurisdictional lines or that involve the complex interaction of a wide range of disciplines. An inter-disciplinary approach to these issues can best be advanced by a Select Committee with broad jurisdiction.
Reestablishing a Select Committee on Aging in the House would also complement the strong bipartisan work of its counterpart in the Senate. In recent years, the Senate Committee has effectively promoted member understanding on a range of issues, including the concerns of grandparents raising grandchildren, elder abuse and fraud, including tools to combat scammers, the growing crisis of substance abuse trends among older adults, the importance of financial literacy in planning for retirement, and the costs associated with isolation and loneliness.
Historically, the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging served as a unique venue that allowed open, bipartisan debate from various ideological and philosophical perspectives to promote consensus that, in turn, helped facilitate the critical work of the standing committees. We believe that issues affecting seniors would be best advanced by the re-establishment of such a Committee in the House.
We are pleased to endorse H. Res. 1029 and look forward to working with you to see its adoption by the House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO