Recognizing the significant milestone of Senior Corps volunteers serving 50,000,000 hours in 2018.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 402 Recognizing the significant milestone of Senior Corps volunteers serving 50,000,000 hours in 2018. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CASE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOL- LUM, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. PRICE of North Caro- lina, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. VELA, and Mr. YARMUTH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor RESOLUTION Recognizing the significant milestone of Senior Corps volunteers serving 50,000,000 hours in 2018. Whereas volunteers in the United States who are 55 years of age and older (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘senior vol- unteers’’) provide much needed services to their commu- nities, neighbors, and friends; Whereas Senior Corps, through the RSVP, Foster Grand- parent, and Senior Companion programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, provides meaningful volunteer opportunities to 220,000 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:22 May 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR402.IH HR402 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HRES 402 IH senior volunteers and recruits thousands of additional community volunteers; Whereas, for more than 5 decades, RSVP volunteers, Foster Grandparents, and Senior Companions have played an important role in strengthening communities by contrib- uting their experience, knowledge, and accomplishments in order to— (1) help their neighbors recover from natural and manmade disasters; (2) provide nutrition services; (3) mentor and tutor schoolchildren; (4) support veterans and military families; and (5) provide respite care to caregivers; Whereas in 2018, Senior Corps volunteers provided more than 50,000,000 hours of direct service through more than 23,000 nonprofit, educational, and faith-based com- munity groups nationwide; Whereas structured volunteering by senior volunteers— (1) keeps those senior volunteers active, healthy, and engaged; (2) helps communities across the United States by solving local problems; (3) helps the United States by saving taxpayer dol- lars, reducing health care costs, and strengthening de- mocracy; and (4) helps seniors live independent and productive lives; Whereas the RSVP, Foster Grandparent, and Senior Com- panion programs have proven to be cost-effective ways to engage senior volunteers in volunteer service that meets pressing community needs; VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:22 May 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR402.IH HR402 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HRES 402 IH Whereas recent research suggests that— (1) volunteering not only slows the cognitive decline of aging for older individuals in the United States, but also provides an important pathway for alleviating loneli- ness; and (2) throughout the United States, and especially in rural areas, older individuals are ‘‘aging in place’’ and are thereby particularly susceptible to loneliness, which undermines health and is linked to early mortality; Whereas the United States should expand senior volunteer service opportunities to take advantage of the talents and experiences of the 10,000 baby boomers who will retire each day for the next 20 years; Whereas, at a time of mounting social need and growing in- terest in service by older individuals in the United States, the United States has an unprecedented opportunity to harness the talents of senior volunteers to address com- munity challenges; and Whereas the people of the United States should join in the celebration of Senior Corps volunteers during ‘‘Older Americans Month’’ in May 2019: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) acknowledges the contributions that Senior 2 Corps volunteers make to— 3 (A) the communities in which those volun- 4 teers live and serve; and 5 (B) the United States; and 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:22 May 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR402.IH HR402 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HRES 402 IH (2) encourages the people of the United States 1 to recognize the contributions of senior volunteers. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:22 May 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR402.IH HR402 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS