Washington, D.C. — For the first time in more than three decades, Congress may be getting a dedicated forum to address the needs of older Americans — and nursing home advocates say it’s long overdue.
U.S. Representatives Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island) and María Elvira Salazar (R-Florida) introduced H.Res. 1013 this week, a bipartisan resolution to reestablish a Permanent Select Committee on Aging in the House of Representatives. The original committee, created in 1974, expired in 1993 after nearly two decades of work. A similar panel still operates in the Senate, but the House has had nothing comparable since.
The stakes are high. More than 60 million Americans are now over the age of 65, and that number keeps climbing. Many live on fixed incomes, face barriers to accessing health care, struggle with housing and transportation, and are vulnerable to scams and elder abuse. Right now, no single House committee has a dedicated mandate to take on all of those issues at once.
“It is too hard to be a senior in the United States, and Congress has a responsibility to do more,” said Magaziner. “Reestablishing the Select Committee on Aging would create a dedicated forum to address the challenges seniors face and ensure they protect the ability to retire with dignity.”
Salazar framed it as a matter of respect. “America’s seniors built this country, and they deserve more than gratitude; they deserve action,” she said. “From rising healthcare costs to housing and long-term care, their challenges are too important to be buried in bureaucracy.”
Why Nursing Homes Are Paying Attention
The original House Committee on Aging didn’t just hold hearings — it moved the needle. It helped push Congress to abolish forced retirement, shine a light on nursing home abuses, and elevate elder abuse as a national concern. Nursing home operators and resident advocates alike have long pointed to the absence of a House counterpart to the Senate’s aging panel as a gap in federal oversight.
The resolution comes at a moment when nursing home policy is getting more attention from Capitol Hill than it has in years. The federal legislative push to strengthen nursing home oversight has picked up steam, with both parties showing unusual willingness to weigh in on staffing, financing, and care standards.
H.Res. 1013 is backed by a broad coalition of more than two dozen national organizations, including AARP, LeadingAge, the Alzheimer’s Association, Meals on Wheels America, and the Post Acute and Long Term Care Medical Association. That kind of cross-sector endorsement is rare — and signals just how hungry the aging services community is for a dedicated congressional voice.
What Comes Next
The resolution would amend House rules to formally establish the committee. It still needs to pass the full House, which won’t happen overnight. But the bipartisan sponsorship — a Florida Republican and a Rhode Island Democrat — gives it a better shot than most senior care proposals in recent memory.
For nursing home operators, residents, and families watching Congress from the sidelines, the message is simple: if this passes, aging policy finally gets a permanent seat at the table.
