[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 A PLEA FOR RESTORED FUNDING FOR LIHEAP

  (Mrs. KENNELLY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, it is not easy to be poor in this 
country; it is not easy to be old; and it is not easy to get through a 
harsh New England or Midwestern winter if you are either.
  For that reason, we enacted the low-income energy assistance program, 
or LIHEAP. In fiscal year 1993, more than 5 million households 
benefited from funding under LIHEAP. More than 70 percent of these 
recipients have annual incomes of less than $8,000.
  In my own State of Connecticut, not only are our winters harsh and 
our economy in deep difficulty--our fuel costs are disproportionately 
high. The average price of natural gas in Connecticut is 291 percent 
higher than it is in Alaska. Without LIHEAP, many families may be faced 
with the starkest of choices: Heat versus gas for the car, or clothes 
for the children, or a roof over your head.
  It is not easy to be poor, or old, or sick. And it's not easy to be 
overlooked. Let us not ignore these people least able to speak for 
themselves. Let us restore funding for LIHEAP.


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