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TITLE II—WHITE HOUSE
CONFERENCE ON AGING
SEC. 201. WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE AUTHORIZED.
(a) AUTHORITY TO CALL CONFERENCE.—Not later
than December 31, 2005, the President shall convene the
White House Conference on Aging in order to develop rec-
ommendations for additional research and action in the
field of aging which will further the policy set forth in sub-
section (b).
(b) PLANNING
AND DIRECTION.—The Conference
shall be planned and conducted under the direction of the
Secretary in cooperation with the Assistant Secretary for
Aging and the heads of such other Federal departments
and agencies as are appropriate. Such assistance may in-
clude the detail of personnel on a reimbursable or non-
reimbursable basis as the head of the department or agen-
cy may decide.
(c) PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE.—The purpose
of the Conference shall be—
(1) to increase the public awareness of the
interdependence of generations and the essential
contributions of older individuals to society for the
well-being of all generations in light of population
longevity;
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(2) to identify the problems facing older individ-
uals and the commonalities of the problems with
problems of younger generations, some of which can
be alleviated through policy and program interven-
tions as well as effective life course planning;
(3) to examine the well-being of older individ-
uals, including the impact the well-being of older in-
dividuals has on our longevous society;
(4) to develop such specific and comprehensive
recommendations for executive and legislative action
as may be appropriate for maintaining and improv-
ing the well-being of older Americans;
(5) to develop recommendations for the coordi-
nation of Federal policy with state and local needs
and the implementation of such recommendations;
and
(6) to review the status and multigenerational
value of recommendations adopted at previous White
House Conferences on Aging and incorporate devel-
opments which acknowledge advances in knowledge
and technology.
(d) 
CONFERENCE
PARTICIPANTS
AND
DELE-
GATES.—
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(1) PARTICIPANTS.—In order to carry out the
purposes of this section, the Conference shall bring
together—
(A) representatives of Federal, State, local,
and tribal governments;
(B) professional and lay people who are
working in the field of aging; and
(C) representatives of the general public,
particularly older individuals.
(2) SELECTION OF DELEGATES.—The delegates
shall be selected without regard to political affili-
ation or past partisan activity and shall, to the best
of the appointing authority’s ability, be representa-
tive of the spectrum of thought in the field of aging.
Delegates shall include individuals who are profes-
sionals, individuals who are nonprofessional, minor-
ity individuals, and individuals from low-income fam-
ilies. A majority of delegates shall be aged 55 or
older.
SEC. 202. CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATION.
(a) ADMINISTRATION.—In administering this section,
the Secretary shall—
(1) provide written notice to all members of the
Policy Committee of each meeting, hearing, or work-
ing session of the Policy Committee not later than
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48 hours before the occurrence of such meeting,
hearing, or working session;
(2) request the cooperation and assistance of
the heads of such other Federal departments and
agencies as may be appropriate in the carrying out
of this section;
(3) furnish all reasonable assistance, including
financial assistance, to State agencies on aging and
to area agencies on aging, and to other appropriate
organizations (including organizations representing
older Indians), to enable them to organize and con-
duct conferences and other activities in conjunction
with the Conference (including activities in advance
of the Conference, as part of the process of planning
for the Conference, and activities subsequent to the
Conference in connection with dissemination, discus-
sion, and implementation of recommendations of the
Conference);
(4) make available for public comment a pro-
posed agenda, prepared by the Policy Committee, for
the Conference which will reflect to the greatest ex-
tent possible the major issues facing older individ-
uals consistent with the provisions of subsection (a);
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(5) prepare and make available background ma-
terials for the use of delegates to the Conference
which the Secretary deems necessary; and
(6) engage such additional personnel as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section
without regard to provisions of title 5, United States
Code, governing appointments in the competitive
service and the Senior Executive Service, and with-
out regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of
chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and
pay rates for the General Schedule and the Senior
Executive Service.
(b) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall, in carrying out
the Secretary’s responsibilities and functions under this
section, and as part of the White House Conference on
Aging, ensure that—
(1) the conferences under subsection (a)(3)
shall—
(A) include a conference on older Native
Americans to identify conditions that adversely
affect older Native Americans, to propose solu-
tions to ameliorate such conditions, and to pro-
vide for the exchange of information relating to
the delivery of services to older Native Ameri-
cans; and
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(B) be so conducted as to ensure broad
participation of older individuals;
(2) the agenda prepared under subsection
(a)(4) for the Conference is published in the Federal
Register not later than 30 days after such agenda
is approved by the Policy Committee, and the Sec-
retary may republish such agenda together with the
recommendations of the Secretary regarding such
agenda;
(3) the personnel engaged under subsection
(a)(5) shall be fairly balanced in terms of points of
views represented and shall be appointed without re-
gard to political affiliation or previous partisan ac-
tivities;
(4) the recommendations of the Conference are
not inappropriately influenced by any appointing au-
thority or by any special interest, but will instead be
the result of the independent judgment of the Con-
ference; and
(5) current and adequate statistical data, in-
cluding decennial census data, and other information
on the well-being of older individuals in the United
States are readily available, in advance of the Con-
ference, to the delegates of the Conference, together
with such information as may be necessary to evalu-