Given its range of activities, it's no small wonder that AARP currently has more than 35 million members, approximately half of whom are still working either full or part-time. Almost a third of AARP's members are under the age of 60; those age 60-74 comprise 46 percent of the organization's membership, and 21 percent are 75 or older. It has offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. At the center of AARP's advocacy activities are the organization's hordes of volunteers. The members of AARP's board of directors and national officers are all unpaid volunteers, as are the AARP activists who serve as field directors, state presidents, legislative and chapter leaders. Their range of community services includes assistance in tax preparation, driver training and re-education and grief counseling.

To cope with the diverse needs of those aged 50 and over, AARP has established two outreach organizations. One is AARP Services, Inc. (ASI), a wholly owned subsidiary of AARP. ASI manages a range of products and services for AARP members. Among the programs ASI manages are: Medicare supplement, long-term care, automobile, homeowners and life insurance, member discounts and savings on prescription drugs, vision services and eyewear products. Additionally, ASI manages programs that help members with situations ranging from finding a nursing home to providing access to attorneys at reduced fees. It also provides discounts on hotels and motels, auto rental, airlines, cruise lines, vacation packages, entertainment products and consumer goods.

Complementing the work of the ASI is the AARP Andrus Foundation, which awards grants for research on aging and conducts educational initiatives and public awareness initiatives that focus on financial security and living with chronic health conditions. It also plays a leading role in AARP's myriad litigation activities.

To help get its message out, AARP publishes two bimonthly magazines, Modern Maturity and My Generation. There is also with a monthly newspaper, The AARP Bulletin, and a quarterly Spanish-language newspaper, Segunda Junventud. It also maintains a Web site, www.aarp.org. AARP produces two national radio network series, Prime Time and Mature Focus, which offer listeners a wide variety of guests and topics of interest.

All told, AARP undertakes an impressive array of activities, even by the standards of the largest Washington-based advocacy groups. Yet the organization's origins could hardly have been more humble. In 1947, Ethel Percy Andrus retired after 41 years as an educator in California. To her chagrin, she found it was difficult to get adequate and affordable health insurance, particularly for someone with a teacher's modest pension. Together with other retired educators, she formed the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) that same year.

Over time, it became clear to NRTA's leadership that the issues of concern to its members went far beyond those who had chosen education as their vocation. In 1958, Andrus founded the American Association of Retired Persons, today's AARP. Overseeing all AARP's activities is the organization's current executive director, William Novelli. Prior to joining AARP in January 2000, Novelli was president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. His experience also includes a stint as executive vice president of CARE, the world's largest private relief and development organization ($450 million budget, 11,000 employees, active in 40 developing countries plus fundraising and advocacy programs in the US). Novelli first rose to national prominence as co-founder of Porter Novelli, now one of the world's largest public relations agencies and part of the Omnicom Group, an international marketing communications corporation. In 1999, Novelli was named one of the 100 most influential public relations professionals of the 20th century by the PR industry's leading publication.

Capitol Hill lawmakers recently had a chance to see Novelli in action. On March 7 he told members of the Senate Finance Committee that Medicare must be strengthened and modernized by adding affordable prescription drug coverage this year, calling it an urgent priority for virtually all older Americans. "AARP believes solid public policy should drive the funding of a prescription drug benefit, not the reverse," Novelli said. "This is why we have asked Congress to renew its commitment from last year, adjusted for inflation and the growing number of eligible beneficiaries, by earmarking $350 billion for prescription drugs and reforms that strengthen the program."

He also recommended that Congress create a reserve fund of about $400 billion that could be tapped, as needed, to provide Congress with the flexibility to design a program that will succeed in the marketplace.

It was not Novelli's first trip to Capitol Hill, nor will it be his last. As the nation's population ages, and with the first "baby boomers" set to begin retiring in a decade, issues relating to aging will assume an even more prominent place in public discourse. And AARP will be in the arena.

Bonner R. Cohen is a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia.