Commissioners Harry Thomas and Jane O'Dell Baumgarten Testify Before
House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity

Washington, D.C. Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Facility Needs for Seniors in the 21st Century Commissioners Harry Thomas and Jane O'Dell Baumgarten provided testimony to the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity on elderly housing and affordability issues. Commissioner Thomas is Executive Director of the Seattle Housing Authority and Commissioner Baumgarten is a board member representing AARP. Today's hearing is one in a series focusing on housing affordability issues that the subcommittee is conducting under the leadership of Chairwoman Marge Roukema (R-NJ).

"As we talk to individuals and groups, we are finding a deep interest in the work of the Commission, and we are confidant that by the end of this process, we will deliver a product to Congress that will not only provide an accurate picture and projection of the state of the nation's senior's housing and health facility services environment, but will also provide practical policy recommendations for Congress to consider," Thomas said. Both Thomas and Baumgarten credited the subcommittee's foresight in establishing the Commission. Mr. Thomas and Ms. Baumgarten's testimony are further examples of efforts to provide useful information to the Congress on an ongoing basis while the Commission conducts hearings and prepares its report to address the looming demographic crisis as the baby boom generation ages.

"Harry Thomas and Jane Baumgarten are both valuable members of this Commission. Their testimony was enlightening to Members and advanced the ongoing public policy debate," said Commission Executive Director Gerard Holder. "Baumgarten and Thomas' testimony are also an excellent prelude to the Commission's first regional field hearing in Syracuse later this month," Holder also noted.

The Commission will be holding a regional hearing hosted by the Syracuse Housing Authority on Monday, July 30, 2001. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Housing Authority's Toomey-Abbott Tower, 1207 Almond Street. Though the Commission's Housing and Health Strategies task force is managing the hearing, nearly all Commissioners have shown their enthusiasm for this important work and will be joining the task force in Syracuse. Representative James Walsh of Syracuse and Department of Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Roy Bernardi are scheduled to give opening remarks at the field hearing that will feature witnesses testifying from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

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Seniors Commission, 470 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Suite 7110, Washington, D.C. 20024 (202) 708-4287, Fax (202) 708-4165