Call for Co-Sponsors

September 12, 2002

Elder Justice Act of 2002

Dear Colleague:

We would like to invite you to co-sponsor the Elder Justice Act of 2002. This landmark legislation is the first comprehensive federal effort to address elder abuse, neglect and exploitation and guarantee protections for all older Americans.  First announced in May, the provisions of the Elder Justice Act have garnered support from scores of seniors, their families and aging advocates alike.  Older Americans should not wait a minute longer for the protections they deserve.

Reports reflect 500,000 to 5 million of America’s senior population may be victims of some form of abuse every year.  Elder abuse is a largely unreported epidemic that will only get worse as 77 million baby boomers reach retirement age.

Over the past two decades Congress has held dozens of hearings on the many devastating aspects of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.  In these hearings, elder abuse was called a “disgrace,” and a “burgeoning national scandal,” however, to date, no federal law has been enacted addressing elder abuse in a comprehensive manner.  In fact, no single federal employee works full-time on elder abuse, neglect and exploitation issues.  It is time to give elder abuse the same attention and resources as those devoted to child abuse and violence against women.  Elder abuse is another complex problem facing America’s families that must be addressed.

We feel that we can take what has been learned through our success in combating child abuse and violence against women and apply the same principles to fight crimes against seniors.  We need a combined law enforcement and public health approach to study, detect, treat, prosecute and, most importantly, prevent elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

We urge you to co-sponsor the Elder Justice Act of 2002 to address the dire need to protect America’s seniors.  Attached you will find a summary of the legislation along with a congressional timeline of actions against elder abuse to date. 

Further information on the Elder Justice Act can be found on the Senate Special Committee on Aging website at http://aging.senate.gov.  Please call Lauren Fuller with Senator Breaux at 4-5364 or Wan Kim with Senator Hatch at 4-5225 to join us in co-sponsoring the Elder Justice Act of 2002.

________________              _________________

JOHN BREAUX                                 ORRIN HATCH
U.S. Senator                                        U.S. Senator