Reauthorizing, improving, and fully funding the Older Americans Act is the least that a grateful nation can do to repay these sacrifices.

One of the most effective programs ever designed to address the needs of vulnerable seniors is the Older Americans Act.

Half of all seniors are unable to afford even basic living expenses or are living right on the edge.

We understand--and this is terribly important as well in this debate--real funding, counting inflation and counting population growth, is significantly less than it was in the 1990s.

In my view, if a nation is to be judged by how it cares for the weakest, the most vulnerable people amongst us, the United States would not get particularly high marks.

So I urge and ask all of you and your organizations and people all over this country to stand up for seniors right now, stand up for a cost-effective government.

I have been criticized for actually suggesting that we should see a significant increase in funding.

Let's end government waste by not having our emergency rooms inundated with people who should not be in emergency rooms or hospital care for people who should not have to be in the hospitals.

Four million seniors live on less than $11,000 a year. Frankly, I don't know how anybody lives on $11,000 a year.

To get to where we were in 1992, we would need an additional $514 million.

Thank you, Mr. Bedlin.

Wage insurance, not savings, is what's needed to prepare for the loss of wages as a result of old age.

Please end it as soon as possible. Exempt those programs which clearly serve the most vulnerable of our society, such as the OAA nutrition programs.

When we invest in these programs, we save money, and sometimes some of my friends don't fully get that.

I happen to believe that if 100 million people are watching this discussion that we're having today with this panel, there would be overwhelming support for this program and significantly increasing funding for this program.

Seniors remain economically vulnerable as long as they are one serious illness away from bankruptcy.

When we're not adequately funding this program, we're wasting money.

Nothing could be further from the truth.