We shall be serving the best interests not only of those who are already elderly, but also those of younger persons who will be elderly some time in the not-too-distant future, and indeed, we shall be improving the quality of life for all the people in the United States. Senator MCNAMARA. Thank you, Senator. I appreciate very much your thoughtful presentation here. I am sure that you recognize already that through your efforts the Director of the program has set up a committee to study and recommend to him some steps that might be taken, and methods used. Senator SMATHERS. Right. That is the task force programs for the elder poor, to which I referred earlier. Senator MCNAMARA. He mentioned yesterday that he was working along those lines, and I am sure that your efforts are bearing fruit. Unless there is objection, we will include the proposed amendment in the record at this point. Senator SMATHERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator MCNAMARA. There being no objection, it is so ordered. (Subsequently Senator Smathers submitted these additional views:) AMENDMENT TO S. 1759 At the end of the bill insert a new section as follows: PROGRAMS FOR THE ELDERLY SEC. 19. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 is amended by inserting at the end thereof a new title as follows: "TITLE IX-PROGRAMS FOR THE ELDERLY "CONGRESSIONAL INTENT "SEC. 901. It is the intent of Congress in enacting this title to provide certain programs directed toward the special problems of poverty among elderly persons. The provision of such programs shall not be construed to eliminate proper consideration of the elderly in the programs provided in other titles of this Act. "PART A-EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR OLDER WORKERS "SPECIAL PROJECTS TO STIMULATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES "SEC. 911. (a) For the purpose of demonstrating the employment capacity and utility of older workers, the Director is authorized to make grants to public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations for experimental or demonstration projects which will enlist most effectively the cooperation of such agencies and organizations for this purpose. "(b) No project sall be approved under this section unless the Director, pursuant to such regulations as he may prescribe, determines "(1) that the employment to be provided thereby will permit or contribute to a public or community undertaking or service that will not otherwise be provided; "(2) that such employment will not result in the displacement of regular workers; and "(3) that the rates of pay and other conditions of employment are appropriate and reasonably consistent with the rates and conditions applicable with respect to comparable work in the locality. "(c) Whenever a project of a public or nonprofit private agency or organization is approved under this section, the Director may enter into an agreement with such agency or organization for carrying out such project. He shall, to the extent practicable, coordinate projects under this section with other community plans for older persons, including community action programs under title II. Not more than 50 per centum of the costs of any such project may be paid by the Director under this section. Any agreement under this subsection shall contain such provisions as may be necessary to insure that employees are employed in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall provide for systematic evaluation by the Director of the progress and achievements of the project, and may provide that the Director may, where he deems it essential to accomplishment of the project, furnish tools, clothing, transportation, or similar items, and necessary training or retraining, for employees. Payments under this subsection with respect to any project may be made in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments and on such conditions as the Director finds necessary properly to carry out the purposes of this section. "(d) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1966, and June 30, 1967, and for the succeeding fiscal years such sums as the Congress may hereafter authorize by law. "GRANTS TO VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS WHICH ASSIST OLDER WORKERS "SEC. 912. (a) In order to promote employment opportunities among older workers, the Director is authorized to make grants to private nonprofit groups and organizations to assist them in carrying on activities designed to assist older workers in obtaining employment. "(b) No grant under this section to any group or organization shall be made in an amount greater than 50 per centum of the total expenses (for the period with respect to which the grant is made) of such group or organization incurred in carrying out its activities relating to assisting older workers in obtaining employment. "(c) Payments under this section to any group or organization may be made in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such installments and on such conditions as the Director finds necessary and proper to carry out the purposes of this section. "(d) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section, there is authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1966, and June 30, 1967, such amounts, not to exceed $90,000 for any fiscal year, as may be necessary, and for the succeeding fiscal years such sums as the Congress may hereafter authorize by law. "PART B-NATIONAL SENIOR CORPS "STATEMENT OF PURPOSE "SEC. 931. It is the purpose of this part to provide an opportunity for men and women aged 55 and over who are in need of additional income to maintain an adequate standard of living to obtain such income by providing needed services in their communities. "PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION "SEC. 932. (a) In order to carry out the purpose of this part, the Director is authorized and directed to "(1) establish a National Senior Corps (hereinafter referred to as the 'Corps') and enlist as members thereof men and women aged 55 or over who are in need of additional income in order to maintain an adequate standard of living; "(2) provide, either directly or by arrangement with public or private agencies or institutions, for any necessary short-term training for members of the Corps; "(3) establish programs in communities throughout the Nation under which members of the Corps residing in such community or nearby communities provide services which are determined to be needed and are otherwise unavailable in the community and which provide "(A) advice and assistance to families in homemaking or home health practices; "(B) companionship, guidance, and care for children, including the provision of such care in the member's home or in centers; "(C) meals and other services to enable persons who are ill and unable to care for themselves to remain in their own homes; "(D) assistance in schools as lunchroom supervisors, playground monitors, or in other needed areas; "(E) assistance in hospitals and other institutions for the ill and infirm; or "(F) other assistance to individuals or in community affairs; "(4) provide members of the Corps with necessary facilities and equipment for carrying out the provisions of this part; and "(5) prescribe charges for services provided by the Corps to persons or organizations able to pay for such services as determined pursuant to standards prescribed by the Director. No service shall be provided where it is already being provided or can reasonably be expected to be provided by a private organization, whether or not operated for profit. "(b) Funds received pursuant to clause (5) of subsection (a) of this section shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. "COMPENSATION AND HOURS "SEC. 933. (a) Members of the Corps shall be compensated at not less than the current minimum rate provided under the provisions of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, both for time spent in training and in rendering services. Members of the Corps shall also be compensated for necessary transportation and subsistence in obtaining training pursuant to this part and for necessary transportation in providing service as such members. "(b) Members of the Corps shall be employed as such members approximately twenty hours per week, except that the Director may authorize regular employment in excess of such twenty hours for particular positions in the Corps or in unusual circumstances. "ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICABILITY OF PROVISIONS OF FEDERAL LAW "SEC. 934. (a) The program authorized by this part shall be administered by a full-time staff with the assistance, wherever feasible, of members of the Corps. The staff shall be composed of civil service employees who are entitled to all benefits and privileges and subject to the same responsibilities as all other Federal employees. In appointing members of the staff, preference shall be given persons who (1) are 55 years of age or older, and (2) have had training and experience as members of the Corps. "(b) To the etxent practicable, members of the Corps shall be used to administer the provisions of this part, especially to supervise and direct the program in communities with insufficient numbers of corpsmen to justify assignment of members of the regular administrative staff. "(c) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this part, a member of the Corps shall be deemed not to be a Federal employee and shall not be subject to the provisions of laws relating to Federal employment, including those relating to hours of work, rates of compensation, leave, unemployment compensation, and Federal employee benefits. "(d) Members of the Corps shall be deemed to be employees of the United States for the purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and service as a member of the Corps shall be deemed to be employment for the purposes of title II of the Social Security Act. "(e) (1) Such members shall, for the purposes of the administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (5 U.S.C. 751 et seq.), be deemed to be civil employees of the United States within the meaning of the term 'employee' as defined in section 40 of such Act (5 U.S.C. 790) and the provisions thereof shall apply except as hereinafter provided. "(2) For purposes of this subsection: "(A) the term 'performance of duty' in the Federal Employees' Compensation Act shall not include any act of a member of the Corps— "(i) while on authorized leave; or "(ii) while absent from his assigned post of duty, except while participating in an activity authorized by or under the direction or supervision of the Director; and "(B) in computing compensation benefits for disability or death under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, the monthly pay of a member of the Corps shall be deemed to be his actual pay or that received under the entrance salary for grade 6 of the General Schedule of the Classification Act of 1949, whichever is greater. "(f) Such members shall be deemed to be employees of the Government for the purposes of the Federal tort claims provisions of title 28, United States Code. "ALLOCATION TO STATES "SEC. 935. (a) A minimum of fifty members shall be in active service in the Corps in each State at all times. For purposes of this section the District of Columbia shall be considered a State and all areas under the jurisdiction of the United States other than States and the District of Columbia shall be considered in combination a State. "(b) Any amount of the appropriation for a fiscal year remaining after compensating the members of the Corps specified in subsection (a) and defraying other necessary expenses in carrying out the provisions of this part shall be used for compensation for services of additional members of the Corps, who shall be allocated among the States by the Director in accordance with (1) the proportion that the population of each State aged fifty-five and over bears to the total population of the United States aged fifty-five and over, and (2) other factors affecting the need for assignment of members of the Corps to that State and the potential effectiveness of members in that State, such as the number of those eligible for apponntment in such State who have indicated an interest in appointment, the need for services of the type rendered by the Corps, the cooperation received by the Corps in such State, and the degree of acceptance of the Corps in such State. "AUTHORIZATION "SEC. 936. There is authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this part $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1966, and June 30, 1967, and for the succeeeding fiscal years such sums as the Congress may hereafter authorize by law. "PART C-OTHER PROVISIONS FOR THE ELDERLY "ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOB PROGRAMS FOR THE ELDERLY "SEC. 951. There shall be in the Office an Assistant Director for Programs for the Elderly. Such Assistant Director shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall be in addition to Assistant Directors appointed pursuant to section 601(a). "REPRESENTATION OF ELDERLY IN COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAMS "SEC. 952. In the participation of groups served in the development, conducting, and administering of community action programs pursuant to section 202 (a) the Director shall require that elderly persons be represented as such a group wherever appropriate. "COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAMS TO INCLUDE PROGRAMS FOR THE OLDER POOR "SEC. 953. Community action programs approved for funding under the provisions of title II shall, wherever feasible, include programs designed to be of particular assistance to the older poor. "TASK FORCE ON PROGRAMS FOR THE OLDER POOR "SEC. 954. There is hereby established in the Office a Task Force on Programs for the Older Poor. Such task force shall function as an advisory committee to (1) advise the Director in carrying out the provisions of this title, (2) advise the Director with respect to including the elderly in other appropriate programs under this Act, and (3) examine the nature and causes of poverty among middle-aged and older citizens, and recommend ways of preventing such poverty and additional means of eliminating it. The task force shall be composed of nineteen members who shall be appointed by, and shall serve at the pleasure of, the Director pursuant to section 602 (c) to represent industry, labor, agriculture, education, minority groups, and social service organizations. The Director shall name one such member as chairman of the task force." (The amendment and letter of Senator Smathers follow :) U.S. SENATE, Hon. PAT MCNAMARA, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: On the day after I testified before your subcommittee, Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz issued a report entitled "The Older American Worker-Age Discrimination in Employment." This report was issued in fulfillment of the requirement in section 715 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which directed the Secretary of Labor to "make a full and complete study of the factors which might tend to result in discrimination in employment because of age and the consequences of such discrimination on the economy and individuals affected," and to file with Congress not later than June 30, 1965, a report of the results of such study, including "recommendations for legislation to prevent arbitrary discrimination in employment because of age." On pages 70 and 71 of this report, Secretary Wirtz said: "There are many community tasks on which older persons can be employed. There are substantial community needs that have not been met, and for which local authorities do not have funds. A great deal of this work can be done by older workers, and would be if Federal assistance were available in a form similar to the present financing of the Neighborhood Youth Corps. Community work would recapture and preserve human abilities, utilize manpower, provide satisfying occupation, and forestall additions to the mounting welfare caseload."✶✶✶ "There are, and are likely to continue to be, however, tens of thousands of workers with inadequate sources of income and no employment prospects, who are over 55, have exhausted unemployment compensation, and are not yet eligible for retirement benefits. It is not right or reasonable that those whom the economy has displaced at ages between 55 and 65 in the course of technical progress, and whom it will not take back into productive employment, should suffer because of the unavailability of work opportunity. A special program to meet the income needs of this limited group should be considered not only on its own merits but to reduce the growing pressure for a costly early retirement system." The above-quoted passage is an excellent statement in support of the ideas I was seeking to convey at your hearing. With kind personal regards, I am Sincerely yours, GEORGE A. SMATHERS, Chairman. OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT ON AMENDMENTS TO S. 1759 PROPOSED BY SENATOR SMATHERS This amendment would add to the Economic Opportunity Act a new title consisting of several new programs, and changes to existing programs, all of which are designed to aid the aged. The Office of Economic Opportunity is very much concerned with the need for developing more effective methods to assist the aged poor. We believe it should be recognized that for a majority of the aged poor, particularly those over 65, the problem of poverty cannot be solved in the long run without some form of improved income maintenance arrangements. Obviously, this does not mean that other kinds of programs, including employment programs, cannot make a significant contribution. We are, in fact, making a special effort to develop such programs and to apply them as soon as possible in an effective and meaningful way. New proposals planned for early implementation include such things as a foster grandparents program, to be launched on a national basis, in which poor persons 55 and over will be used in the care of infants and very young children in charity wards, hospitals, and institutions, and a program in which the aged poor will be employed to provide cooking, shopping, and other services, as well as companionship, for themselves. In addition, we are working with the National Council on Aging, and our own ad hoc task force, to develop additional types of |