[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 48 (Thursday, April 28, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE ACT

                                 ______


                               speech of

                       HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 26, 1994

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, it is a little difficult on a beautiful 85-
degree day here in Washington to remember how important the Low Income 
Home Energy Assistance Program is to millions of families across the 
Nation.
  Not very long ago, we were suffering through the longest and coldest 
winter in many, many years. For tens of thousands of Massachusetts' 
residents, the LIHEAP Program is the only thing that stands between 
their families and the bone-chilling cold.
  Of the families that get LIHEAP benefits in Massachusetts, 75 percent 
earn less than $10,000 per year, and 40 percent of the households are 
elderly or disabled.
  This year, about one-third of Boston recipients ran out of benefits 
before Christmas; 65 percent were out of benefits by mid-January.
  My friends, the winter is not over in Boston in the middle of 
January.
  The debate today is not a theoretical discussion. When their benefits 
run out, families with children must choose between heat and food. A 
Boston Hospital Center study shows the number of malnourished children 
nearly doubles in the winter because parents know their children can 
freeze to death overnight--starvation takes longer.
  The bill before us today authorizes $2 billion for this crucial 
program. This will simply restore LIHEAP to its 1985 funding level.
  The problem has not gotten smaller, neither should the funding.
  I congratulate Chairman Martinez for bringing this important 
legislation to the floor. We all know the real fight--the fight for the 
real dollars--is yet to come.
  I look forward to working with him and the many other supporters of 
LIHEAP in these upcoming battles.

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