Pepper Passes 86 With Bow to Swimmer, 93

Rep. Claude Pepper, touting his bill to ban mandatory retirement at any age, celebrated his 86th birthday today with a bow to a retired schoolteacher who is a championship swimmer at age 93.

Nellie Brown, who traded her rocking chair for a competitive career in the swimming pool when she was 81, still holds the national 400-meter and 500-meter speed record for women over 80.

“Swimming comes so easily to me,” she said. “Sometimes I do think my body is specially constructed to make swimming easy for me. I’m like a bar of Ivory soap. I have no trouble floating.”

Brown was one of several elderly witnesses who testified at a House hearing called by Pepper, a Florida Democrat, to generate support for his proposal to eliminate mandatory retirement for most private employees. Under existing law, they can be forced legally to quit working when they turn 70.

‘Cruel Camouflage’

In 1978, Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation backed by Pepper that eliminated mandatory retirement for most federal workers and raised the legal retirement age from 65 to 70 for private employees.

“Mandatory retirement is a cruel camouflage masking age discrimination and forced unemployment,” said Pepper, chairman of the subcommittee on health and long-term care of the House Select Committee on Aging.”

“Mandatory retirement constitutes a vicious form of self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “People who retire at 65 can look forward to fewer years of life than those persons who continue working.”

Aides to Pepper said the House may vote as early as Friday on the bill, which would affect 41,000 to 77,000 Americans who wish to continue working past age 70.

Pepper, the oldest member of Congress, turned 86 Monday. When he walked into the hearing room this morning, he was greeted with a birthday cake and a round of tributes from his House colleagues.