Older Americans
Congressman Pat Tiberi, then-Chairman of the Select Education Subcommittee wrote the bill that reauthorized the Older Americans Act through fiscal year 2011. The measure provides the majority of the funding for social services and nutritional programs for the nation’s seniors. Through Congressman Tiberi’s leadership, this reauthorization included ways to improve the quality of life for older Americans and the result of his hard work lead the AARP to “commend” and “support” his bill. In addition, United Jewish Communities, American Dietetic Association, National Council on Aging, the Leadership Council of Aging Organization, and many other groups representing the older Americans community lent their support to Congressman Tiberi’s bill.
Supporting a Streamlined Program to Improve Seniors’ quality of life
“I always tell constituents back home when they ask me what the most important part of my job is; I tell them it is helping people. This legislation today is really all about helping people, especially our senior citizens.”
-- Cong. Tiberi |
- The Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006. The Older Americans Act, originally enacted in 1965, is the major vehicle that funds federal programs and state and local grants for social and nutritional services for the country’s seniors. Congressman Tiberi wrote and sponsored the reauthorization bill that further streamlined existing programs and added measures that strengthened services to help individuals stay in their own homes rather than move to institutional care, while improving their quality of life. The final version of this bill passed the House on September 30, 2006 and was signed into law on October 17, 2006.
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Congressman Tiberi thanks witnesses from Central Ohio who testified at an April 2006 hearing he held in Westerville while he was crafting the Older Americans Act. He took suggestions and first-hand experiences from many people to create an effective bill |
- Help for Alzheimer’s Patients. Among other measures in the bill, Congressman Tiberi worked hard to include language that made federal assistance more widely available to caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients. His work on this issue earned him the “Giving from the Heart” award from the Alzheimer’s Association – Central Ohio Chapter.
- Gathering Input. As Chairman of the Subcommittee, Congressman Tiberi and Ranking Member Rueben Hinojosa held field hearings in Westerville and in Edinburg, Texas to speak with constituents, seniors, and those on the receiving end of aging services to gain their input. Congressmen Tiberi and Hinojosa worked together, putting aside their party
differences to create the best bill possible.
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