The Nation - News from March 13, 1986

Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.), a vigorous 85-year-old who declares that “ageism is as odious as sexism and racism,” sought to enlist public support 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.”