Senator Collins Leads Discussion on Aging as Inaugural Speaker of ‘Dirigo Speaks,’ Receives AARP’s Congressional Award

Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ remarks as prepared for delivery

Bangor, ME — U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, participated in AARP’s inaugural “Dirigo Speaks” series this evening to discuss her work to address issues affecting older Americans. Following her speech, Senator Collins participated in a Q&A session with audience members. Senator Collins received AARP’s Congressional Award at the conclusion of the event.

“Our parents and grandparents worked hard their entire lives and should be enjoying their golden years,” Senator Collins said during her remarks. “I will continue to advocate for our older Americans, from protecting seniors’ hard-earned savings from criminals and unscrupulous companies to supporting biomedical research that will unlock new, innovative treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s. My thanks to everyone here today for working together on behalf of our seniors.”

Senator Collins spoke about her three priorities as the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, which entail stopping fraud and financial exploitation targeting older Americans; increasing our investments in life-saving biomedical research, particularly for Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes; and strengthening financial security during the retirement years.

Senator Collins also discussed her work to investigate the extreme price increases for certain prescription drugs, such as the EpiPen; a few of the recent successes of the Aging Committee’s Fraud Hotline, including her efforts to secure the release of Maine scam victim Bryon Martin from a Spanish prison; the recent announcement that The Jackson Laboratory will receive part of a $25 million grant to co-establish the Alzheimer’s Disease Precision Models Center; and the RAISE Family Caregivers Act, legislation Senator Collins’ introduced to support family caregivers.

Dirigo Speaks is a new platform for Maine leaders and regional newsmakers to share opinions, ideas and perspectives on what’s happening (and not happening) in Maine. The event was hosted by AARP in partnership with the Bangor Daily News at Husson University in Bangor.