Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization of 2008

Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]: I would first like to thank the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. BOBBY SCOTT, for the time. And I thank him for making sure that this bill come to the floor tonight.

I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 6503, the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization Act. The Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program is a Department of Justice program that helps local communities and law enforcement officials quickly identify persons with Alzheimer's disease who wander or who are missing and reunite them with their families.

Since its inception more than 10 years ago, this program has funded a national registry of more than 172,000 individuals at risk of wandering and has reunited over 12,000 wanderers with their families.

It is a highly successful program whereby 88 percent of registrants who wander are found within the first 4 hours of being reported missing. A total of 1,288 wandering incidents were reported to the program in 2007. The program has a 98 percent success rate in recovering enrollees who are reported missing.

There also are technology-based options to address wandering that should be considered for funding under the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program. For example, personalized wristbands that emit a tracking signal can be used to locate wanderers. These wristbands, when combined with specially trained search and rescue teams, can reduce search times from hours and days to minutes.

Congress originally authorized $900,000 in appropriations for the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program for 3 years, that is 1996 through 1998, but never reauthorized or updated the program. Since then, the program has continued to receive funding on a year-to-year basis, but funding has remained virtually flat since its inception.

H.R. 6503 reauthorizes updates and expands the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program. The program authorizes up to $5 million per year in appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2015, a modest increase over the current appropriation of $1 million in fiscal year 2008.

The bill expands the program so as to allow the Department of Justice to award multiple competitive grants to nonprofit organizations. Preference would be given to national nonprofit organizations that have a direct link to patients and families of patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Finally, the bill specifies that the program will be operated under the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. Currently, the program is operated under the Office of Juvenile Justice, which is obviously not the most appropriate agency for a program serving the elderly.

H.R. 6503 has 25 bipartisan cosponsors, including the cochairs of the Congressional Alzheimer's Task Force, Congressmen EDWARD MARKEY and CHRISTOPHER SMITH. The bill is also supported by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and Project Lifesaver.

Furthermore, on May 14, a diverse group of over 85 national State and local organizations sent a letter to the members of the House Judiciary Committee supporting this approach to the reauthorization of the Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program.

The Missing Alzheimer's Patient Program is a critical resource for first responders. It saves law enforcement officials valuable time, allowing them to focus on other national and local security concerns. It is critical that we reauthorize and expand this small but effective program.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6503. And with that, I thank all of those who have worked to bring this bill to the floor.
 

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