Whereas President John F. Kennedy first designated May as Senior Citizens Month in 1963; Whereas, in 1963, only approximately 17,778,000 individuals living in the United States were 65 years of age or older, approximately 1/3 of those individuals lived in poverty, and few programs existed to meet the needs of older individuals in the United States; Whereas, in 2022, there were more than 57,794,852 individuals who were 65 years of age or older living in the United States and those individuals accounted for 17.3 percent of the total population of the United States; Whereas, during the COVID–19 pandemic— (1) more than 853,670 individuals in the United States who were 65 years of age or older have died due to COVID–19; and (2) more than 200,000 residents and workers in long-term care facilities, including more than 168,000 in nursing homes, have succumbed to the virus; Whereas approximately 11,224 individuals in the United States turn 65 years of age each day; Whereas, in 2022, more than 8,543,000 veterans of the Armed Forces were 65 years of age or older; Whereas older individuals in the United States rely on Federal programs, such as programs under the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 301 et seq. ), including the Medicare program under title XVIII of that Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq. ) and the Medicaid program under title XIX of that Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq. ), for financial security and high-quality affordable health care; Whereas the Older Americans Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq. ) provides— (1) supportive services to help individuals in the United States who are 60 years of age or older maintain maximum independence in the homes and communities of those individuals; and (2) funding for programs, including nutrition services, transportation, and care management to assist more than 10,000,000 older individuals in the United States each year; Whereas, as local aging network leaders, Area Agencies on Aging are critical partners in the healthy aging continuum