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Senator Thomas F. Eagleton
Chairman Subcommittee on Aging
Committee on Human Resources
V. S. Senate

Vashington, D. C. 20510

Dear Senator Eagleton:

3413 Clifford Dr.
Metairie, La. 70002
December 20, 1977-

DEC 23 4 04 P

Enclosed is a copy of a letter expressing my concern over the exclusion of testimony from representatives of over 1/2 the population of this metropolitan area at the recent Hearings on Extension of the older American Act at the Sacred Heart Nutrition Center, 139 So. Lopez St., Neworleans, La. on December 16, 1977.

If possible, I would appreciate your including this letter of transmittal and a copy of my letter of December 20, 1977 to Mr. A. P. McLachlan in the official transcript of the hearings.

Thank you for your continuing concern for the ever increasing problems of Older Americans.

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3413 Clifford Dr.
Metairie, La. 70002
December 20, 1977

Mr. A. P. McLachlan

President, Advisory Council

District I, Area Agency on Aging

Suite 207

333 St Charles Av.

New Orleans, La. 70130

Dear Mr. McLachlan:

When I contacted you about the back page "filler notice" in the local newspaper of the Hearings on Extension of the Older American Act by Senator Thomas F, Eagleton, Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Aging, Committee on Human Resources, you suggested that I contact the office of District I, Area Agency on Aging. I was informed that they were preparing testimony for New Orleans' Mayor Elect Morial am that everything necessary was being done.

You had also suggested that I contact Mr, George Gates, Executive Director, New Orleans Council on Aging because you considered that a representative of the Advisory Council should participate in the hearings. I contacted Mr. Gates requesting permission to testify at the hearings. He made arrangements for me to participate, apparently as a panelist to discuss nutrition centers. Other than unscheduled references to a sewer problem in Kenner and the need for a new Mississippi River Bridge, the poorly prepared and inadequately expressed testimony that I gave was the only information the Subcommittee received on the pressing and, in my opinion, largely ignored needs of the elderly in Jefferson Parish, in general, and in unincorperated Metairie, in particular. For the record, Plaquemines, St Bernard, and St Tammany Parishes were completely excluded.

In subsequent personal discussions with Senators Eagleton and Johnston, I attempted to explain that the elderly in the areas outside of Orleans Parish have frequently different but never-the-less pressing needs such as; public transportation, multipurpose day care centers, housing, home health care, and health maintenance and screening organizations that are available and accessible for everyone.

I would appreciate your requesting the District I, Area Agency on Aging to solicit written comments from elected officials and representatives of the Councils on Aging from outside Orleans Parish and then submit the comments to Senator Eagleton for inclusion in the official transcript of these hearings.

I shall look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Albert S. Cooper, J.

Chairman, Subcommittee on Transportation

Advisory Council, District I, Area Agency on Aging

cc: Senator Thomas F. Eagleton

Senator J. Bennett Johnston

Parish President Douglas Allen

Senator EAGLETON. Thank you very much.

[Applause.]

[Whereupon, at 2:15 p.m., the hearing in the above-entitled matter

was closed.1

OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1978

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1978

U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGING

OF THE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:05 a.m. in room 6226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Senators Eagleton and Kennedy.

Senator EAGLETON. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Senate Subcommittee on Aging is now in session to conduct a series of hearings on the Older Americans Act.

In the interest of Senator Kennedy's time, I am going to yield to him at this point for his opening statement. Senator Kennedy is perhaps the single most active member of the entire Human Resources Committee and an active member of this subcommittee as well. He has had a long identification with legislation pertaining to America's senior citizens.

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR KENNEDY

Senator KENNEDY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to join all those who will be testifying in this hearing. Thank you for chairing these hearings and for following these issues as closely as you do and for the leadership that you are providing on legislation which has such enormous impact in the lives of the people in my State and all over this Nation, our elderly people.

Today, Mr. Chairman, we open the hearings on the reauthorization of an act whose purpose is to achieve for the older people of this Nation the health, honor, and dignity to which they are entitled. It is an act which is meant to help provide for the elderly people of this country the nutrition, transportation, community employment, and legal services that they need.

Mr. Chairman, the people who are the direct beneficiaries of this act are the people who built the factories, the cities and the schools of this country.

They are the people who fought the wars of this Nation, and they are the people whose taxes have allowed us the freedom to build the kind of society that we want to have. So, finally, this is an act which allows us to say to ourselves that we understand the debt that we owe to those who have built this country for us, and to begin to make good on it.

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