[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 153 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13378-S13380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 1786. A bill to revise and extend the Community Services Block 
Grant Act, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, and the 
Assets for Independence Act; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, today Senator Dodd and I are 
introducing the Poverty Reduction and Prevention Act of 2003. This bi-
partisan

[[Page S13379]]

bill proposes to reauthorize important legislation that provides 
meaningful assistance to 18 million Americans seeking to fight their 
way out of poverty. The bill includes the Community Services Block 
Grant, the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program, and the 
Assets for Independence Program.
  Statistics show us that poverty touches a large proportion of 
Americans over their lifetimes. Sometimes poverty is a chronic 
condition that persists over several generations. But more often, 
poverty happens as a consequence of life's unexpected tragedies--
illness, job loss, divorce, or disability. These can seriously 
undermine a family's ability to support itself. What's needed is a 
safety net in such times of need. Our Poverty Reduction and Prevention 
Act can provide that help and can make the difference in a family's 
efforts to fight their way out of poverty become self-sufficient again.
  The services of the Poverty Reduction and Prevention Act are provided 
primarily through Community Action Agencies, created 40 years ago. The 
heart of these programs are those provided through the Community 
Services Block Grant, created in 1981. The block grant allows for 
maximum flexibility to tailor programs to meet local needs with minimal 
administrative cost. Today the programs touch the lives of almost 25 
percent of those living in poverty. These programs fund a state-
administered community services network of more than 1000 local 
agencies that work to alleviate poverty and empower low-income families 
in communities across the United States. The agencies are very 
effective in leveraging their funds to mobilize additional resources 
from local businesses and foundations, as well as other public sources, 
to make an effective impact in fighting poverty in their communities.
  A number of social services are provided that are designed to help 
low-income individuals and their families achieve a better quality of 
life. They help people find and keep a good job, get an adequate 
education, obtain a decent place to live, pay their utility bills, and 
even learn how to manage a household income.
  The Poverty Reduction and Prevention Act has five major themes for 
its services: to assist families in poverty address their immediate, 
most basic needs and work toward self-sufficiency; to serve the non-
traditional poor who are facing poverty due to unexpected events such 
as a plant closing or a major illness or injury; to assist special 
populations, including those dealing with chronic poverty and for whom 
conventional solutions have failed; to work for systemic change in low-
income communities to promote economic development and community 
revitalization; and to provide direct assistance to help low-income 
individuals pay their utility bills.

  These programs are the true ``safety net'' for millions of low-income 
and at-risk families and individuals and serve as the centerpiece of 
most local social service programs in 96 percent of the counties across 
the country. Last year the programs in the Poverty Reduction and 
Prevention Act served over 19 million people, primarily through CSBG, 
serving 13 million, and the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance 
Program, providing assistance to over 5 million.
  In Tennessee, over 100,000 individuals were served by CSBG last year, 
almost 25 percent of whom were disabled. Over 60,000 families were 
served, 90 percent were living below the federal poverty level, and 40 
percent were elderly or disabled families living on a fixed income. And 
those who are helped in turn help others by volunteering in the 
programs and giving back to their community. For example, in my home 
State of Tennessee, long known as the Volunteer State, those who 
benefitted from these programs gave back to others by working over 
190,000 volunteer hours.
  And there is good accountability for how those funds are spent in the 
community. Each agency is governed by a board of directors, a third of 
which consists of representatives who live in the low-income community, 
a third are locally elected officials, and the remaining third are 
community leaders from business, labor, religion, and education.
  These programs are not only important to those who receive services; 
they also make good use of the Federal dollar. Last year in addition to 
the Federal monies appropriated for these three programs, the community 
agencies identified other state and local monies and private 
contributions. In total, local agencies administered over $9 billion on 
behalf of low-income families and individuals in communities across the 
country.
  In addition to good fiscal accountability and effective use of 
Federal dollars to leverage additional resources, the programs are a 
model when it comes to tracking and reporting the outcomes they are 
helping people achieve. In Tennessee, for example, we know that 43 
percent of individuals who were seeking employment were able to find a 
job, and two-thirds of those jobs included health care coverage. Over 
75 percent of those seeking housing assistance were able to move from 
sub-standard to good, stable housing, and 524 families were moved out 
of homelessness. Over 85 percent of elderly households assisted were 
able to continue living independently.
  Through LIHEAP in Tennessee, over 72,000 received assistance in 
paying their utility bills, thereby avoiding having their heating and 
cooling cut off, which is of very real importance for health and safety 
as well as quality of life. The high cost of energy is a growing 
problem for those families trying to get by on a lower income and for 
our elderly living on fixed incomes.
  By helping these people in meaningful ways, the programs administered 
under the Poverty Reduction and Prevention Act have not only made a 
difference in thousands of lives but have also saved my state money in 
significant ways--by avoiding the higher costs of 
homelessness, reducing the number of people in poverty, reducing the 
need for nursing homes and institutional care, and providing an 
important ``bridge'' to help people moving off of welfare achieve 
permanent self-sufficiency,

  While these programs have had many very real successes in the past, 
as we approached this reauthorization we also looked for ways we could 
improve the programs and provide even better access to and delivery of 
these important services. In drafting the reauthorization we gave 
particular attention to clarifying and strengthening the purpose of 
these important programs, which, in summary, is to fight and reduce 
poverty, working in partnerships with community and state leadership.
  In this reauthorization we believed it was important to give states 
greater flexibility in determining who should receive services. We 
wanted to expand services to the extent possible to assist more of the 
working poor and their families achieve economic stability and self-
sufficiency. While giving more flexibility, we also provided incentives 
to encourage States to focus on those most in need and to help those 
transitions from welfare to self-sufficiency. And we strengthened the 
accountability and monitoring of funds at both the state and local 
level. We explicitly asked States to hold the line on excessive 
administrative salaries and expenses, again at both the state and 
agency level.
  In this reauthorization we also wanted to highlight best practices 
and encourage creativity and innovation in fighting poverty. We called 
for identifying exemplary local agencies as Centers of Innovation to 
promote the sharing of best practices among all community agencies.
  Focusing on outcomes, we directed local agencies to have established 
clear goals for reducing poverty in their community and to show that 
substantial progress is being made in meeting those goals before 
receiving continuing block grant funds. These goals include leveraging 
community resources and fostering coordination across Federal, State, 
local, and private programs and services.
  In the area of heating and cooling assistance, we are recommending a 
significant increase in the funds authorized for this important 
program, and we have added provisions and specific triggers that allow 
for better, more effective release of emergency funds for LIHEAP 
assistance under extraordinary circumstances.
  The programs included under the Poverty Reduction and Prevention Act 
of 2003 are important to millions of Americans who deserve our 
consideration and need our support. The services touch almost every 
community in

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the country and are often the only source of assistance available to 
the people the programs are designed to serve. Quite simply, what these 
services do is help restore dignity to those we serve. Every day one of 
these programs makes a difference in the lives of our neediest 
citizens. What this bill can accomplish will make possible a better 
quality of life for individuals and for neighborhoods and communities 
across this great land. I join my colleague Senator Dodd in urging the 
passage of this important reauthorization legislation.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Alexander in 
introducing the Poverty Reduction and Prevention Act, which 
reauthorizes the Community Services Block Grant, the Low-Income Home 
Energy Assistance Program, and the Assets for Independence Act. I would 
especially like to congratulate Senator Alexander, Chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Children and Families, and his staff for working so 
hard to ensure that this bill would be a bipartisan piece of 
legislation.
  I, like many of my colleagues, was greatly disturbed by the latest 
U.S. Census poverty data released last month, which shows that poverty 
rose to 12.1 percent in 2002, bringing the total number of people 
living in poverty to 34.6 million. The number of children in poverty 
rose by 400,000, which means that nearly 17 percent of children are 
living in poverty. Even more disturbing is that the number of people 
who lack health insurance rose by 2.4 million in 2002, bringing the 
total number of uninsured to an alarming 43.6 million. Although the 
proportion of uninsured children did not change between 2001 and 2002, 
11.6 percent of all children remain without the necessary safety net of 
health insurance. Our children truly are our future; we must treat them 
like the precious resources that they are and provide them with the 
services and assistance they need.
  There are many troubling signs for families today, particularly 
families with children. Unemployment continues to be a problem. 
Families are running out of unemployment benefits without finding jobs. 
The most recent data from the Department of Health and Human Services 
shows that welfare caseloads continue to decline overall, but in many 
States over the last year, caseloads are increasing. With States facing 
their worst budget crisis since WWII, many programs for low-income 
families are being cut. This is particularly a problem given that half 
the states are cutting child care funds. Parents need affordable child 
care to get and keep jobs. Clearly, this is a time of crisis for our 
Nation's low-income individuals and families. It is time for our 
government to help them through these difficult economic times and give 
them the opportunities and the tools to lift themselves back onto their 
feet.
  The bill that we are introducing today will reaffirm our nation's 
commitment to alleviating poverty and upholding the American ethos of 
helping our neighbors. For over 40 years, Community Action Agencies 
have been using Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funds to 
coordinate and deliver comprehensive poverty programs and services to 
our nation's poor. From administering Head Start programs, to 
delivering meals to the sick and elderly, providing adult education and 
literacy, and implementing the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program, CSBG funds are reaching and helping nearly a quarter of all 
people living in poverty in the United States. It goes without saying, 
that ideally, we would like to reach out to each and every individual 
and family living in poverty, but this bill is a start. It is a good 
start. It is a firm commitment to communities that when times are 
tough, Community Action Agencies will continue to work at the local 
level to address local needs.

  The bill will enhance community flexibility in serving the poor and 
working poor. I don't need to tell you, that a poor person living in 
urban New Haven has different needs from an impoverished family living 
in rural Danielson, CT. The same holds true for Community Action 
Agencies across our Nation. One Community Action Agency could be using 
their CSBG funds to teach computer skills in a town where a major 
manufacturing plant just closed down, while another Community Action 
Agency is using the same funds to develop rural waste water management 
systems. I am pleased that this reauthorization retains and strengthens 
the flexibility that makes CSBG such a unique and successful program, 
by upholding and strengthening the successful and innovative Results 
Oriented Management Assessment (ROMA) system of accountability and 
monitoring procedures.
  I am also pleased that reauthorization of this bill will allow 
crucial assistance to reach more of our country's poor and working poor 
by setting a minimum eligibility level for assistance at 125 percent of 
the poverty level and a maximum of 60 percent of the State median 
income. In Connecticut alone, nearly 32 percent, or 437,492 households, 
are below 60 percent of the State median income. Conversely, if we had 
set the maximum at 185 percent of the poverty threshold, we would only 
reach 269,373 households. By using the State median income as a 
maximum, not only will this bill be benefitting the Nation's families 
living in poverty, but it will also assist those working poor families 
just above the poverty line, including those leaving welfare to make a 
smooth and permanent transition to self-sufficiency.
  The bill also reauthorizes the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program, LIHEAP, which allocates grants to States to operate home 
energy assistance programs for low-income households. According to the 
most recent data from the Department of Health and Human Services, 4.8 
million households received winter heating assistance, 250,000 
benefitted from cooling aid and 87,000 received summer crisis aid in 
fiscal year 2001. This legislation makes funding LIHEAP more responsive 
to community needs by basing emergency funding triggers on the price of 
home energy bills and the average number of heating and cooling days in 
a month. These simple automatic triggers will ensure that LIHEAP funds 
are readily available in times of crisis.
  Again, I would like to congratulate and thank Senator Alexander for 
his fine work on this bipartisan piece of legislation. I firmly believe 
that this bill is a step in the right direction. Every day in this 
chamber and throughout the halls of the Senate, we talk about leaving 
no child behind, food stamps, comprehensive health care, job training 
and rural housing assistance. Mr. President, this bill encompasses all 
of these programs and services, and many more important poverty 
initiatives. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and join 
us in helping to strengthen low income communities, so that we can help 
more families become self-sufficient. In these tough economic times, 
families deserve this support.
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