sanders: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont is recognized. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that paul sheerduwin with the homeland security committee be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the caucus. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. hatch: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you. madam president, today i am very proud to introduce the older americans act reauthorization bill of 2012 with 14 of my colleagues, including senators blumenthal, kerry, mikulski, begich, akaka, durbin, gillibrand, leahy, wyden, franken, johnson and merkley. this bill is the result of an impressive team effort. we have reached out to a number of members on the committee and others who have brought forth ideas of their own. and i'm very proud as chairman of the subcommittee on primary health and aging to have introduced this bill. and i want to thank the director of the subcommittee, ashley cunningham, for her work as well as sophie cassamo and erica sullway. madam president, it is important to me that this important piece of legisla