Let the Elderly Keep Working, Pepper Urges

Rep. Claude Pepper, a vigorous 85-year-old who declares that “ageism is as odious as sexism and racism,” sought to enlist public support today for his proposal to outlaw mandatory retirement of American workers at any age.

Presiding at a televised House hearing, Pepper said the bill he has introduced with 50 House co-sponsors is intended to extend to every American--with a few exceptions --the right enjoyed by federal employees to “be as old as Methuselah and continue to work, if you can do the job.”

Pepper (D-Fla.) said he probably would be dead today if he had been forced to retire at age 65, three years after he was first elected to the House in 1962 following a Senate career that began nearly half a century ago.

Pepper’s bill would eliminate the mandatory retirement age of 70 that is allowed for employees in private business. That same requirement was lifted for federal workers under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1978. Thirteen states forbid mandatory retirement for private employees at any age.