Seniors
Information regarding my stance on Seniors' issues.
Many organizations representing the interests of older adults were thrilled with the U.S. House's passage Monday of HR 4334, the Dignity in Aging Act of 2019, which reauthorizes the Older Americans Act. The leadership of Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on behalf of this bill was distinct and decisive. She chaired the subcommittee that produced the bill. Further, she ensured two things about the legislation and the process: It would be bipartisan and involve input from stakeholders.
Bills that would reauthorize the Older Americans Act and improve improve education and training in geriatrics passed in the House of Representatives on Monday. They now move to the Senate for consideration.
Almost 11 million older adults and their paid and unpaid caregivers would be supported by the bipartisan Dignity in Aging Act (H.R. 4334), which would amend and reauthorize for five years the Older Americans Act, according to Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), the legislation's sponsor.
Oregonians who signed up for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program are finding it's not very forgiving.
Tens of thousands of students nationwide took advantage of the government program but only about one percent have been approved to have their loans forgiven.
Bonamici said, "People across Oregon and our country took jobs in public service and planned their lives around it, only to discover it was an empty promise. It's been devastating to so many people."
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici says the current impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump may draw most of the public's attention, but the House is working on other issues affecting people's lives.
As an example, Bonamici said, a House subcommittee she leads has produced a bill (HR 4334) to extend federal spending authority under the Older Americans Act, which was originally passed in 1965.
As Democrats in the House of Representatives begin an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, Western Washington County residents packed the Cornelius Public Library on Wednesday, Oct. 2, to ask questions of U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici.
Multiple people asked Bonamici about the topic that has recently dominated national news: impeachment.
"We have a responsibility to hold this administration accountable," Bonamici said.
In the neighborhoods around San Jose, more than 1 in 9 seniors struggle to get enough to eat.
In June, the U.S. House passed a $93 million increase to the Older Americans Act‘s nutrition programs, raising total funding by about 10% to $1 billion in the next fiscal year. In inflation-adjusted dollars, that's less than in 2009. And it still has to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, where the proposed increase faces long odds.