CONTENTS Excerpts from introduction to "Federal and State Activities," from series entitled "Studies of the Aged and Aging," November 1956, 85th "Bill of Objectives for Older People and a Program for Action in the Field of Aging," from "The State and Their Older Citizens," report to the Governors Conference, August 1955. Excerpts from "The Aged and Aging in the United States: A National Problem," report by the Subcommittee on Problems of the Aged and Aging, January 29, 1960, pursuant to Senate Resolution 65, 86th "Effective Organization of Federal Programs in Aging," chapter V, from "Developments in Aging," 1959-63, a report of the Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate, February 11, 1963- "Federal Organization: A U.S. Office of Aging," chapter VI, from "Action for the Aged and Aging," report by the Subcommittee on Problems of the Aged and Aging, U.S. Senate, January 27, 1961---- "Federal Organizations and Programs," section 20 of the "1961 White House Conference on Aging-Basic Policy Statements and Recom- mendations," committee print of the Special Committee on Aging, "Recommendation VI: Community Action," from "Compilation of Ma- terials Relevant to the Message of the President of the United States on Our Nation's Senior Citizens," committee print of the Special Com- Excerpts from "Developments in Aging," 1963 and 1964, report of the Special Committee on Aging of the U.S. Senate, March 11, 1965.... Report on the Older Americans Act of 1965, submitted by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, April 8, 1965 - - - Report on the Older Americans Act of 1965, submitted by the Committee Letters of support from the Commissions on Aging of the States of Cali- Statements of support of the Older Americans Act of 1965 by- William C. Fitch, executive director, National Retired Teachers Association, American Association of Retired Persons, and Asso- ciation of Retired Persons International on S. 811.__. Charles E. Odell, Director, Older and Retired Workers Department, United Automobile Workers (AFL-CIO) .......... Text of H.R. 3708, as amended by the Special Subcommittee on Aging of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, April 13, 1965... EXCERPTS FROM INTRODUCTION, "FEDERAL AND STATE ACTIVITIES," FROM "STUDIES OF THE AGED AND AGING," NOVEMBER 1956, 85TH CONGRESS The first National Conference on Aging ever held met as recently as 1950. President Harry S. Truman on June 2, 1950, requested the Federal Security Administrator to convene a National Conference on Aging. The President wrote on this occasion: Changing population trends make it clear that older persons comprise a far larger proportion of our total population than in the past, and that their numbers will continue to grow. The problems arising out of this change affect not only these citizens, but all of our people. All aspects of life have a direct bearing upon our older citizens. While problems of income and maintenance are of great importance to them, other aspects of life, such as their participation as citizens in our democracy, their housing, recreation, education, physical and mental health, are significant. All segments of our Nation-local, State, and Federal Government, voluntary agencies, religious organizations, and other welfare groups, as well as the aging themselves and their families-have a stake in the problems and an obligation to help find solutions. I should like therefore to ask you to explore with all appropriate groups, both within and outside the Federal Government, the problems incident to our increasingly older population and to report to me on your findings and recommendations. The National Conference on Aging met in Washington, D.C., on August 13-15, 1950. More than 800 delegates from all parts of the country attended, including representatives of private organizations, professional societies, and State and local groups concerned with aging. The Conference agenda covered subject matter in 11 broad fields, ranging from health maintenance and rehabilitation to community organization. A full report of this first Conference was published as a 311-page book, "Man and His Years" (Health Publications Institute, Inc., Raleigh, N.C., 1951, $3.25), and has therefore not been included in the present collection of documents. The 1950 Conference directed national attention to the need for meeting the challenge of a rapidly increasing older population. In the next 2 years at least 50 major conferences on aging were held in various parts of the country. A growing number of States established commissions or committees. By 1952 there was a widespread demand for another national conference, this one designed to bring together agencies of the States and the Federal Government concerned with the aging and aged. Document No. 1 in this volume is a Report of the Conference of State Commissions on Aging and Federal Agencies, held September 8-10, 1952, in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the Committee on Aging and Geriatrics of the then Federal Security Agency. During the next 2 years, expanding activity by the States led to adoption by the Governors' conference of a resolution calling for a year-long study by the Council of State Governments of the problems of older citizens. The resolution, approved at the 46th annual meeting of the Governors' conference, in July 1954, reads as follows: Spectacular improvements in medical techniques and facilities are substantially extending the span of human life, with the result that older persons comprise an increasingly larger proportion of our population. Increased life expectancy should provide more meaningful rewards than mere prolongation of life itself. Our older citizens are entitled, in their advancing years, both to healthful living and opportunities for useful and satisfying activity. In order that government at all levels may do its best to cooperate in dealing constructively with the problems of the chronically ill, aged, and infirm, it is essential that studies of the problem should reflect not only the existing situation but should provide a basis for intelligent planning of adequate care, treatment and rehabilitation facilities to cope with the needs of the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the 46th annual meeting of the Governor's conference requests the Council of State Governments to conduct such a study, taking into account the material presently being developed by the national commission on the study of patients in chronic institutions and by the study groups, operating in the several States, and to report its findings to the 1955 annual meeting of the Governor's conference. A year later, in 1955, the results of this study were published by the Council of State Governments in a 176-page report entitled the States and Their Older Citizens. (The Council of State Governments, 1313 East 60th Street, Chicago 37, Ill., $3.) In that report appears a Bill of Objectives for Older People and a Program of Action in the Field of Aging, setting forth recommendations that grew out of the study. The Bill of Objectives is reproduced as document No. 5 of the present volume, page 183. On March 21, 1956, in a letter to Hon. H. Alexander Smith, United States Senator from New Jersey, President Dwight D. Eisenhower summarized recent and proposed actions of the Federal Government affecting older persons, and announced his intention to create a Federal Council on Aging. President Eisenhower's letter appears as document No. 4 of this volume, page 173. In April 1956, the President established the Federal Council on Aging, comprising representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Housing and Home Finance Agency, Department of the Interior, Department of Labor, National Science Foundation, Office of Defense Mobilization, Small Business Administration, Department of the Treasury, and the Veterans' Administration. One of the first actions of the Federal Council was to join with the Council of State Governments in calling another Federal-State Conference on Aging. Document No. 2 in this volume (p. 49) is an account of this Conference which was held in Washington, D.C., on June 5-7, 1956. In preparation for the Conference the Federal Council on Aging prepared a descriptive inventory of existing programs of the Federal Government for the benefit of older persons (document No. 3 of this volume, p. 111). The Council of State Governments also prepared for use of the Conference a survey of the organization and activities of the official State groups on aging (document No. 6 in this volume, 191) and a summary of recommendations on problems of the aging compiled from reports of these State agencies (document No. 7 n this volume, p. 275). 46-843-65--2 |