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Senior Citizen Politics
Wisconsin’s Senator Herb Kohl to Become Chair of
Senate Special Committee on Aging
71-year-old senior citizen will also have other
heavy duty in new Congress
 November 19, 2006 – A fellow senior citizen is in
line to take over the chairmanship of the U.S. Senate Special Committee
on Aging. The bad news, because it could mean less attention to issues
impacting senior citizens, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WIS) will also head two
other committees in the new Democrat led Congress, the Appropriations
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies and
the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer
Rights. And, he has been named to serve on the important Senate Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs Committee when the 110th Congress convenes
next year.
(Below this news report see Kohl's official
biography, more about the committee and news releases by Kohl on
prescription drugs.)
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"I've been in business all my life. I'm looking
forward to working with Senator Dodd and our colleagues on the Banking
Committee on issues that impact businesses big and small in Wisconsin
and across our country."
The Banking Committee, which will be led by Senator
Christopher Dodd, will make subcommittee assignments next year.
All committee appointments for 2007 are subject to
Democratic steering committee and conference approval.
Kohl has been the ranking Democrat on the aging
committee, which has been chaired by Republican Gordon Smith of Oregon.
Kohl adds age and seniority to the position. He is
71 (born 02/07/1935) and was first elected in 1988. Smith is 54 and only
came to the Senate in 1997.
Kohl has consistently called for changes in the
prescription drug system, which was the topic of the first hearing by
the aging committee in the 109th Congress.
"This is a system in dire need of reform," Kohl
said then. "American taxpayers foot the bill for most all of the
research on the drugs we are talking about today. At the same time,
Americans are charged the highest prices in the world for those drugs,
which are sold in other countries for a fraction of the price."
The Wisconsin Senator says he has made it a
priority to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
“I am a cosponsor of the ‘Pharmaceutical Market
Access and Drug Safety Act,’ which would allow Americans to take
advantage of lower drug prices found in other countries,” Kohl says.
He was also a persistent critic and investigator of
the way senior citizens, particularly those housed in nursing homes,
were treated during the hurricane Katrina disaster.
He also introduced the Patient Abuse Protection Act
that requires criminal background checks for nursing home and other
long-term care employees, including home health. A pilot program based
on his legislation became law in 2003 as part of the Medicare
Modernization Act.
Kohl says he “also secured annual funding increases
for nursing home inspections.”
Official Biography (Sen.
Kohl’s Website)
Herb Kohl was elected to the Senate in 1988 and
re-elected to a third six-year term in 2000. Kohl was born (Feb. 7,
1935) and raised in Milwaukee, where he attended public school. He
earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in
1956 and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard
University in 1958. Kohl served in the Army Reserve from 1958 to 1964.
Before coming to the Senate, Kohl helped build his
family-owned business, Kohl's grocery and department stores. He served
as President from 1970 through the sale of the corporation in 1979. In
1985 he bought the Milwaukee Bucks to ensure the basketball team
remained in Milwaukee and is recognized as an avid sportsman.
During his time in office, Senator Kohl has been
recognized as a strong advocate for children's issues. Kohl was the
author of legislation to expand the school breakfast program and a
strong supporter of child nutrition programs. In 2003, he received the
"Distinguished Service Award" from the Food Research and Action Center
(FRAC), a leading organization that works to eradicate domestic hunger.
He sponsored legislation to increase child support enforcement, a bill
based on Wisconsin's system to ensure that more child support payments
go to the families they are designed to help. Kohl also sponsored the
"Child Care Infrastructure Act," a law to encourage private companies
and institutions to build on- or near-site day care centers to meet the
rapidly growing demand for child care. The bill has been featured in
"Working Mother" and "Parents" magazines.
Additionally, Kohl has received acclaim as a strong
defender of Wisconsin's farming tradition. Kohl led the effort to extend
the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, which has provided $414
million to Wisconsin dairy farmers struggling with plummeting milk
prices. Kohl helped establish the MILC program as part of the 2002 Farm
Bill to end regional fighting over milk pricing policies.
The Wisconsin
Farm Bureau Federation awarded Kohl with the Distinguished Service to
Agriculture Award - the highest individual honor given by the Bureau
Federation -- for his continued representation of Wisconsin farmers. The
Council on Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET), a
national organization of agricultural colleges and extension programs,
has also recognized Kohl for leadership in support of U.S. agriculture
and research programs.
Senator Kohl also has focused on anti-crime
legislation, especially crimes related to kids. As a member of the
Senate Appropriations Committee, he has helped fund an array of juvenile
crime prevention and after-school programs, including Boys & Girls Clubs
and the Families and Schools Together (FAST) program.
He has secured
$7.9 million in funding for the Wisconsin Methamphetamine Law
Enforcement Initiative, a statewide project addressing the increase of
methamphetamine and clandestine laboratories in Wisconsin. Kohl helped
reauthorize juvenile justice programs in the federal government and
authored laws which prevent the sale of handguns to minors and prohibit
handguns from being brought into a school zone.
The Senate also passed
Kohl's bill to require that handguns be sold with separate child safety
locks. The legislation is designed to protect children from some of the
thousands of shootings each year that involve children and teenagers.
Senator Kohl serves on the Senate Appropriations
Committee and the Judiciary Committee. Kohl is the ranking member of the
Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the
budgets of USDA, the FDA and other agencies which include many programs
important to farmers and consumers. He also serves as the ranking member
of the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights and
Competition.
Senator Kohl is the lead Democrat on the Special
Committee on Aging, the Senate's principal committee charged with
examining the many issues affecting older Americans, like Medicare,
retirement security and protection from fraud and abuse. Kohl has led
efforts to improve the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, urging the
Administration to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors and close the
"donut hole" in coverage that is leaving many beneficiaries with
unexpectedly high drug costs.
Senator Kohl also authored the bipartisan
Older Worker Opportunity Act (S.1826), which would expand opportunities
for older Americans to work longer if they so choose in order to secure
a more comfortable retirement. He has also successfully pushed for
increased funding for nursing home inspections, and has introduced
legislation to require background checks for long term care employees to
ensure that people with abusive and criminal histories do not prey on
vulnerable patients.
Senator Kohl remains active in Wisconsin charitable
activities. In 1990 he established the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation
Achievement Award Program, which provides annual grants totaling
$100,000 to 100 graduating seniors, 100 teachers and 100 schools
throughout Wisconsin. In 1995, Kohl donated $25 million to the
University of Wisconsin for a new sports arena.
About the Senate Special Committee on Aging
The Senate Special Committee on Aging was first
established in 1961 as a temporary committee. It was granted permanent
status on February 1, 1977. While special committees have no legislative
authority, they can study issues, conduct oversight of programs, and
investigate reports of fraud and waste.
Throughout its existence, the Special Committee on
Aging has served as a focal point in the Senate for discussion and
debate on matters relating to older Americans. Often, the Committee will
submit its findings and recommendations for legislation to the Senate.
In addition, the Committee publishes materials of assistance to those
interested in public policies which relate to the elderly.
The Committee has a long and influential history.
It has called the Congress' and the nation's attention to many problems
affecting older Americans. The Committee was exploring health insurance
coverage of older Americans prior to the enactment of Medicare in 1965.
Since the passage of that legislation, the
Committee has continually reviewed Medicare's performance on an almost
annual basis. The Committee has also regularly reviewed pension coverage
and employment opportunities for older Americans. It has conducted
oversight of the administration of major programs like Social Security
and the Older Americans Act. Finally, it has crusaded against frauds
targeting the elderly and Federal programs on which the elderly depend.
Senator Frank Moss (D-Utah) brought to light
unacceptable conditions in nursing homes. Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho)
worked on adding more protections for seniors in the area of age
discrimination. Senator John Heinz (R-Pennsylvania) reviewed Medicare's
Prospective Payment System to see whether it was true the system was
forcing Medicare beneficiaries to be discharged "quicker and sicker."
When the statute of limitations for age
discrimination in employment claims had lapsed, Senator John Melcher
(D-Montana) worked to restore the rights to America's older individuals.
Senator David Pryor (D-Arkansas) investigated the pricing practices for
prescription drugs and his efforts helped change the pricing behavior of
pharmaceutical companies. Senator Bill Cohen (R-Maine) led the way to
enactment of strong health care anti-fraud legislation. Under Senator
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) the committee investigated abuses in the nursing
home and funeral home industries. Most recently, Sen. John Breaux
(D-Louisiana) focused the committee's work on long-term care.
Over the years, the Committee has been in the thick
of the debate on issues of central concern to older Americans. As the
baby boom generation begins to retire en mass, the work of the Special
Committee on Aging has only just begun.
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