Florida Senate - 2009                                    SM 1330
       
       
       
       By Senator Jones
       
       
       
       
       13-01930A-09                                          20091330__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to authorize the Silver Alert Grant
    4         Program.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia
    7  are characterized by the loss of the ability to reason, think,
    8  and remember, and
    9         WHEREAS, the National Institute on Aging has determined
   10  that as many as 5 million Americans may be afflicted with
   11  Alzheimer's disease, and
   12         WHEREAS, the Alzheimer's Association estimates that more
   13  than 60 percent of Americans who suffer from this affliction
   14  will wander from the care of their loved ones in a confused and
   15  distracted state, unable to find their way home, and
   16         WHEREAS, several states have developed notification systems
   17  patterned after the Amber Alert system that disseminate
   18  information on missing senior citizens and other victims of
   19  dementia-related disorders to law enforcement agencies, thereby
   20  increasing the possibility that these victims will be rescued,
   21  and
   22         WHEREAS, the current financial recession has taken a toll
   23  on state budgets making it difficult to underwrite the costs of
   24  administering new notification programs, NOW, THEREFORE,
   25  
   26  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27         
   28         That the Congress of the United States is requested to
   29  authorize the Silver Alert Grant Program to help establish and
   30  improve state-administered notification systems that assist in
   31  locating missing senior citizens and other individuals suffering
   32  from dementia-related disorders.
   33         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   34  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   35  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   36  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   37  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.