THE NATION'S RURAL ELDERLY HEARING BEFORE THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-FIFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION PART 13-TAOS, N. MEX. New Mexico's Senior Citizens NOVEMBER 19, 1977 Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 28-557 WASHINGTON: 1978 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No. 04677-5 SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING FRANK CHURCH, Idaho, Chairman EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico LAWTON CHILES, Florida EDWARD W. BROOKE, Massachusetts JOHN GLENN, Ohio CHARLES H. PERCY, Illinois JOHN MELCHER, Montana DENNIS DECONCINI, Arizona WILLIAM E. ORIOL, Staff Director DAVID A. AFFELDT, Chief Counsel VAL J. HALAMANDARIS, Associate Counsel LETITIA CHAMBERS, Minority Staff Director PATRICIA G. ORIOL, Chief Clerk The Nation's Rural Elderly: Part 1. Winterset, Iowa, August 16, 1976. Part 2. Ottumwa, Iowa, August 16, 1976. Part 3. Gretna, Nebr., August 17, 1076. Part 4. Ida Grove, Iowa, August 17, 1976. Part 5. Sioux Falls, S. Dak., August 18, 1976. Part 6. Rockford, Iowa, August 18, 1976. Part 7. Denver, Colo., March 23, 1977. Part 8. Flagstaff, Ariz., November 5, 1977. Part 9. Tucson, Ariz., November 7, 1977. Part 10. Terre Haute, Ind., November 11, 1977. Part 11. Phoenix, Ariz., November 12, 1977. Part 12. Roswell, N. Mex., November 18, 1977. Part 13. Taos, N. Mex., November 19, 1977. Part 14. Albuquerque, N. Mex., November 21, 1977. Part 15. Pensacola, Fla., November 21, 1977. Part 16. Gainesville, Fla., November 22, 1977. Part 17. Champaign, Ill., December 13, 1977. (Additional hearings anticipated but not scheduled at time of this printing) (II) CONTENTS Page Welcoming remarks by Mayor Phillip Cantu, Jr., Taos, N. Mex - _-__ 993 Opening statement by Senator Pete V. Domenici, presiding - - 994 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Lucero, OsmUndo, chairman, AAA Advisory Board, Santa Fe, N. Mex._. 997 Varela, Eugene A., AAA coordinator, District II, Santa Fe, N. Mex - 998 Fresquez, Annabelle, acting director, senior citizens program, Taos-Rio Arriba Counties, N. Mex - _----- ------- 1002 Rael, J. B., Questa, N. Mex - _-------------_-_ -_ 1005 Rayburn Rosita Espanola, N. Mex - _- _- _-_1011 Sena, Pete, Ojo daliente, N. Mex - _-----_- _- _1013 Trujillo, Meliton M., Taos, N. Mex - _ 1014 Martinez, J. B., Taos, N. Mex - 1015 Martinez, Lee, program director, Administration for Native Americans, Jicarilla Apache Tribe - _------ ------ 1017 Gomez, Cora, senior citizens program director, Administration for Native Americans, Jicarilla Apache Tribe - 1029 Deaux, Barbara, director, health and social services, Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, San Juan Pueblo, N. Mex - 1030 Lujan, Vincent, programs director, Taos Pueblo CAP-- 1033 Abeyta, Joseph F., Sr., National Indian Council on Aging; accompanied by Juana Lyons, executive director - _-_-_-_- _ 1035 Lovato, Remijio, Santa Fe, N. Mex., Advisory Board - 1038 Gregory, Oscar NV., chairman, Colfax County, N. Mex., Advisory Board-_ 1042 Aragon, Secundino, chairman, Mora-San Miguel County, N. Mex., Advisory Boards - 1043 Strohecker, William, chairman, Los Alamos County, N. Mex., Advisory Board - 1044 Cordova, Gustavo, chairman, Taos-Rio Arriba County, N. Mex., Advisory Board - _-------------- _1045 Matter, Charles, Senior Citizens Center, Cerrillos, N. Mex … _ 1049 APPENDIXES Appendix 1. Material submitted by witnesses: Item 1. Statement of Edward Vicenti, councilman, Jicarilla Apache Tribe, Dulce, N. Mex., submitted by Lee Martinez - 1053 Item 2. Statement and attachments of Barbara Deaux, director, health and social services, Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Coun- cil, San Juan Pueblo, N. Mex - _----- _- __1055 Item 3. Statement of Wendell Chino, president, Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico, before the National Indian Council on Aging, - November 16, 1977; submitted by Joseph.Abeyta, S -1072 - Appendix 2. Letters and statements from individuals and organizations: Item 1. Statement of Paul Bernal, tribal spokesman, Taos Pueblo, Taos, N. Mex -1076 Item 2. Statement submitted by Taos Pueblo Senior Citizens Pro- gram, Taos, N. Mex - 1077 Item 3. Letter from Margarito Arellano, mayor, Springer, N. Mex., to Senator Pete V. Domenici, dated November 1, 1977 -1078 Item 4. Letter from Margaret P. Browne, director, and Louise Carl- son, senior citizens program director, Los Alamos, N. Mex., Family Council, Inc., to Senator Pete V. Domenici, dated October 12, 1977 1078 Item 5. Letters from Taos, N. Mex., senior citizens, to Senator Pete V. Domenici, dated November 15, 1977 -1078 (m) IV Appendix 3. Statements submitted by the hearing audience: Page Lyon, Juana P., Albuquerque, N. Mex.--_______________________ 1081 Pond, Mrs. Ashley, Taos, N. Mex -______________________ 1081 Romero, Manuel, Taos, N. Mex - __--_-___-___________________1082 Salazar, Aurelia E., Los Ojos, N. Mex - ______________________ 1082 Salazar, Casilda 0., Tierra Amarilla, N. Mex -_- _______-__-____1082 Simmons, Elizabeth Lee, Raton, N. Mex -____________-___-_____1082 Strohecker, Mrs. W. L., Los Alamos, N. Mex -------------------- 1083 THE NATION'S RURAL ELDERLY SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1977 U.S. SENATE, SPECIAL CoMMrrrEE ON AGING, Taos, N. Hex. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 a.m., in the Taos Middle School Auditorium, Taos, N. Mex., Hon. Pete V. Domenici presiding. Present: Senator Domenici. Also present: Letitia Chambers, minority staff director; Tony Arroyos, minority professional staff member; Deborah K. Kilmer, professional staff member; and Theresa M. Forster, fiscal assistant. Senator DomENIcI. May I have your attention, please. The meeting of the Senate Committee on Aging will come to order. The mayor of Taos, Mayor Cantu, wants to be heard first, so we will recognize him and then we will hear from the witnesses. Each of the witnesses will be invited up to make their testimony. Tony Arroyos will be organizing it with you. Mr. Mayor, we are glad to have you. WELCOMING REMARKS BY MAYOR PHILLIP CANTU, JR., TAOS, N. MEX. Mayor CANTU. Thank you, Senator. On behalf of the town of Taos, I want to welcome you all, this nice day. Senator, we are glad to have you here, and I will just make a few remarks so we can continue with the meeting. I remember when many people in the northern part of New Mexico used to say that politicians only came around when it was election time. We are proud of you,. Senator Domenici, and you are one politician that comes to the northern part of New Mexico every year, whether it is election time or not. Senator DOMENICI. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor CANTU. I know that you are one of the few people who has visited our senior citizens in the northern part of New Mexico, in their homes, the plants, the senior citizens' centers, the hospitals, and at their work. Your tour up here is greatly appreciated by all of us, for we know that when we tell you to, you make national laws work better for rural New Mexico and for our people. Just as a way of thanking you for all of us here today, I want to tell everyone what you have done for the elderly during the last few months. (993) 994 Senator Pete.has persuaded the Senate to give the fixed income elderly people a $75 refundable tax credit to help make it easier for senior citizens who are too poor to pay their utilities and their energy bills. He also has supported a lifetime utility rate which will give senior citizens the lowest possible utility rates. I am also pleased to tell you that our Senator was one of those who has pushed hardest for the weatherization program to make the homes of senior citizens warmer in winter and cooler in summer. This is because you do listen to us and care about what happens to all of us in the northern part of the State. We thank you, Senator. We are proud that you have chosen us as one of the three New Mexico sites for these formal hearings of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. Welcome home, Senator Domenici. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR PETE V. DOMENICI, PRESIDING Senator DOMENIcI. Thank you very much, Mayor. Now, let me ask: Can you hear in the back? That s going to be tough. We are going to try to talk as loud as we can. The witnesses are going to have to speak very loud, too, because there isn't a public address system that works in this room. So, we'll start. First, let me thank the mayor for being with us and for his very kind and generous welcome. Today is one of three formal hearings that we are holding in New Mexico. Yesterday we had one in Roswell, with five or six counties around Roswell bringing witnesses to tell us about the prob- lems with our programs for the aging, and making suggestions as to how we could make them better. It was a very good day. I think we'll have a similar day, today. I am not going to go into a lot of detail, other than to tell you that next year is the year that we will reauthorize the law called the Older Americans Act. That's the law that creates most of our pro- grams for nutrition. Most of the community center activities here in the north come from that law. Sonme of the transportation comes from that law. What we'll be doing is seeing if next year we have to change it, improve it, or just what must be done to make it work better. ELDERLY BEARING MOST OF BURDEN I do want to thank the mayor for recognizing that one of the most serious problems we have in New Mexico and in our country is the burden of energy costs on our fixed-income senior citizens.