[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 25 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1632-S1638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MAKING AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR THE LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM, 2006
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2320) to make available funds included in the
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 for the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program for fiscal year 2006 and for other
purposes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from
Nevada is to be recognized. The Senate will be in order.
Mr. COBURN addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, the pending bill, S. 2320, offered by the
Senator from Maine, increases direct spending in excess of the
allocation to the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Therefore, I raise a point of order against the bill, pursuant to
section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, pursuant to section 904(c) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, I move to waive the applicable points
of order. I move to waive the point of order under the applicable
provisions of the rules and statutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion to waive is debatable. There is 30
minutes equally divided.
Who yields time? The Senator from Maine.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to ask the Senate to do the
right thing and to oppose this budget point of order brought up against
this legislation that will provide emergency funding for the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program.
I thank the majority leader for his assistance in advancing this
legislation. It is the culmination of his considerable efforts over the
last few months to bring forward this legislation. I thank the minority
leader as well for recognizing the importance and vitality of this
issue, and promoting this amendment forward as well.
Mr. President, I know you are sitting in the chair, but you have been
one of the leaders on this issue, trying to get additional commitment
for funding for low-income fuel assistance, particularly for this
winter, along with my colleague, Senator Collins of Maine. This
legislation addresses a nationwide crisis by bipartisan consensus and
fiscal responsibility. This legislation shifts the fiscal year for
LIHEAP funding into the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which was
already signed into law, from 2007 to 2006. This will provide an
additional $1 billion for all those Americans who simply cannot wait
any longer for relief from home heating fuel costs that have
skyrocketed over last year's heating bill.
The vote we will be taking this afternoon is on the budget point of
order against this bill. I would like to elaborate on why this
legislation is absolutely vital to increasing the funding for low-
income fuel assistance for all parts of the country that depend upon
this program.
There has been a lot of misinformation with respect to exactly what
this bill is all about. First of all, it is budget neutral. Don't take
my word for it; it is the conclusion of the Congressional Budget
Office. All of the funds under this bill have already been appropriated
and accounted for within the budget. All this measure will do is shift
the funds from fiscal year 2007 to 2006. There is no additional, there
is no new spending.
This approach is not only fiscally sound and budget neutral, but,
critically, it will allow States the flexibility to allocate funds to
the residents who are struggling to pay for energy bills this year. The
White House and our Senate leadership recognize this is the fiscally
responsible solution to resolve this crisis.
I know some have said essentially we believe the LIHEAP program
should be funded through contingency measures such as this legislation.
That is what this legislation does, it utilizes the existing formula.
It is not only cold weather States but also warm weather States that
will benefit under this legislation.
I regret some of the misinformation that has been circulated with
respect to LIHEAP as to who will benefit, which States will benefit
under this legislation. I submit that in a year of high energy costs--
and it has been a year of high energy costs, anywhere from 30 percent
to 50 percent--it has devastated our State of Maine, Minnesota, and all
parts of the country that have had to rely on home heating oil or
natural gas or whatever the alternative. But the fact remains, the
prices have increased 30 percent to 50 percent over last year's, and
last year's prices went up 20 percent to 30 percent. That factor is not
in dispute.
The additional factor is that we are using the same distribution
formula. I believe that needs to be understood because I have seen some
of the papers distributed as to which States will benefit. It is
totally inaccurate. Nothing has changed with respect to that formula.
On the issues that are important to know about this increase in
LIHEAP funding, No. 1, it is budget neutral; No. 2, it will not
increase spending; and No. 3, the distribution formula remains the
same. I regret that we have seen so much misinformation and
mischaracterization with respect to the funding formula under this
legislation.
Finally, we have heard: Well, it is a mild winter. I would like you
to come to Maine, if you think it is a mild winter, and you ask all
those people about the 30 percent to 50 percent increases. The current
low-income fuel assistance program has not had an increase in real
dollar terms since 1983. I happened to be in the House of
Representatives when we created this program. It has not increased in
real terms. If anything, it has been reduced. I regret that we have
reached this point in time with respect to this vital program that so
many low-income individuals depend upon who can barely make ends meet
given the extent of the costs this winter with respect to home heating
oil.
We are now talking about a program that has not increased in net
terms
[[Page S1633]]
since 1983, when oil was $29 a barrel. Today it is more than $60 a
barrel. Eighty-four percent of the people qualified for LIHEAP funds--
and 80 percent of my State--are dependent upon home heating oil. It is
a crushing financial burden.
Let there be no mistake about the fact that this program is vital. It
is significant. It is essential to so many of the families in my State
and across the country. The urgency of this legislation has escalated
to an emergency. Last year, Americans struggled because of the high
cost of energy. This year, they continue to struggle. We know the
personal terms in which people have been devastated by the increased
costs of energy.
I hope the Senate would waive the budget point of order because this
amendment, this legislation, is budget neutral, and it does depend upon
the existing distribution formula. Both cold weather States and warm
weather States stand to benefit. There has also been a
mischaracterization and misinterpretation about the distribution of
this funding under this legislation. In fact, it was the agreement that
we reached before Christmas. That was essentially the agreement we
reached before Christmas. The very distribution formula we agreed to,
the one which has been the status quo, the one which we agreed to with
those who represent warm weather States, is exactly what this
legislation before us is all about. Nothing has changed. I deeply
regret to see what has been distributed and circulated that would
suggest otherwise because it simply is not true.
Mr. President, I reserve the remainder of my time.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield for a question?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
Ms. LANDRIEU. The Senator from Maine has made a very passionate plea
and one with which I tend to agree. I am a supporter of this program
and a supporter of making the formula even more fair for the Southern
States that have very high energy costs as well--different but high.
But would the Senator agree that another way to bring down prices of
oil and gas would be to increase the supply of oil and gas into our
country? Would the Senator at least acknowledge that is another way to
help people?
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I would like to reclaim my time because I
don't think we ought to debate the question here today. I don't think
there is any question about that.
But in the meantime, we have to address an emergency, and that
emergency exists in my State and many other States across the country,
including the Senator's State. I think it is a matter of fairness and
it is a matter of equity and it is a matter of balance.
I think indisputable about why we need this legislation and why we
need this funding now. I hope Members of the Senate will recognize
that. This is fairly distributed for warm and cold weather States. I
hope we can increase the supply. But right now we have to deal with the
emergency that is presented in my State and many other States across
the country.
I reserve the remainder of my time.
Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator. I don't want to take any more
time. I am going to support bringing this bill up because I believe, as
the Senator outlined, it is an emergency and something we need to do.
But I want to say for the Record that there are other ways we can
lower the price. Louisiana and the gulf coast is prepared to do that. I
hope, as we move on with this debate, we can get to that issue as well.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, first of all, I was in the meeting with
Senator Snowe before Christmas. This is not the formula that we had
agreed on in those meetings.
Second of all, the formula that she says will benefit the warmer
States is not accurate. It is not historically accurate. It is not
accurate with regards to the contingency funding. Contingency funds
were released in January. There are 29 States that will be worse off
under the Snowe proposal, if this money is put through the regular
formula, the warmer States benefit. The whole formula was set up so
that mostly colder States would benefit from the first dollars, and
then if dollars are added, the warmer States would benefit.
But the way this amendment is set up that is, in fact, not what
happens.
We have a budget point of order. People have to know that we are not
voting on cloture on the bill or cloture on a motion to proceed to the
bill, but we are actually voting on a budget point of order.
This has been described as a mild winter. There is plenty of evidence
for that, especially on the east coast. I think the only two States
that could arguably say it has been a harsher winter than normal are
Oregon and Washington. And most of the rest of the country has had a
fairly mild winter.
The point that somehow the Northeast needs this more because they
have more higher heating expenses isn't true. Electricity in most of
the country now is generated by natural gas. Because of the
environmental concerns plants have switched over to natural gas. Air
conditioning in the Southern States is just as critical as heat in
Northern States. When it gets hot enough, people die from heat.
The LIHEAP formula was set up to be able to help warmer States and
help low-income people in those warmer States. Frankly, this proposal
does not do that. It does not do that fairly. If this money were all
put through the regular formula this would be a fair proposal.
That is why the Senator from Louisiana's State would lose around $18
million if this formula were done differently, as she would like to see
it done, versus the way Senator Snowe has this drafted.
I didn't think this is the time for us to be waiving budget points of
order. We are facing difficult fiscal times, and we need to show some
fiscal restraint around here. Hopefully, we can sustain this budget
point of order.
I reserve the remainder of our time.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I say to the Senator from Nevada, frankly,
I think the Senator from Louisiana made a very good point coming up and
saying this makes sense. I had an amendment that would allow us to go
into BLM lands to extract natural gas and for LNG plants. That was
taken out in the highway bill up in Massachusetts.
It doesn't seem at all reasonable to me that you would support
something such as this for electricity and at the same time turn around
and oppose every effort we have to try to get more natural gas to bring
to these homes.
I certainly agree. I had an amendment to do that. It doesn't look
like there will be an opportunity to entertain that amendment. Without
that, I think it is unreasonable to expect that we would be able to do
this.
Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, there is no question that one of the
reasons this was even in the bill--in the Defense bill--was because
ANWR was in there to help pay for extra money for LIHEAP. One of the
reasons they say this is paid for is because they are taking money out
of 2007 and moving it into 2006. We know this is a phony argument. We
have seen it done around here time and time again. They are budget
games that are played so they can say things are budget neutral. How do
you spend $1 billion and call it budget neutral? You are not taking
something else and cutting spending someplace else. You are only
shifting to the next year.
This budget point of order is real, and this budget point of order I
think should be sustained.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, how much time remains on both sides?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine has 5 minutes 48
seconds.
Ms. SNOWE. I yield to my colleague, Senator Collins, 2 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I commend you and Senator Snowe for
working so hard on this very vital issue.
I want my colleagues to understand exactly what is at stake here.
Early Tuesday morning, my State suffered a terrible tragedy--three
people, including a woman and her 10-year-old son, died when their
house caught fire and burned to the ground. There was the most deadly
fire in Maine in 6 years. They lived in Limestone, ME, a town in
northern Maine. On the night of the fire, temperatures were below zero.
The family had run out of heating
[[Page S1634]]
oil, and as a result, was using wood stoves to provide the heat.
According to the firefighters, the fire started near one of the wood
stoves in the kitchen.
This is literally a matter of life and death.
At Christmastime, when I was home in my hometown of Caribou, ME, two
elderly women were hospitalized with hypothermia.
This is not theoretical. It is not theoretical when there is ice in
the toilet and when our elderly and low-income are at risk of illness,
disease, and, yes, even death because they cannot afford the high cost
of home heating oil.
The least we can do in a country as wealthy as ours is to provide
some modest assistance. And those who say that the winter is almost
over, come to where I am from in northern Maine. Believe me, there is a
lot more winter to come.
Maine has run out of its LIHEAP funding. It is time for us to provide
this modest help.
Thank you, Mr. President. I thank my colleague from Maine.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, how much time do we have remaining?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 20 minutes 43 seconds.
Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I agree with both Senators from Maine. Our
goal is not to have additional LIHEAP funding. Our goal is to make sure
we don't steal it from our grandchildren, robbing from the unborn and
the young in this country to do something in the name of good. It is
not moral at all.
What we are saying is pay for it. To say it is paid for, to say you
are paying for it, there is $1 billion allocated for next year, we are
going to take that away and that is going to have to be paid for by
somebody. You know who is going to pay for it? Our grandchildren.
If we want to help the people of Maine, there are a couple of things
we can do. No. 1, you can use your TANF money for LIHEAP right now.
That is allowed under Federal law. There is no reason anybody in Maine
doesn't have the LIHEAP funds. You have money in your TANF account
right now that you can transfer to solve that problem in terms of the
acute problem.
The second thing you ought to know is that there is $11.2 billion in
unobligated funds in Health and Human Services right now that the
administration could release for LIHEAP. We don't have to be doing
this. If it truly is an emergency, the administration has the money
right now to send to Maine to do that. Your Governor has the ability to
take TANF money right now and support LIHEAP in Maine.
But it is unconscionable for us to steal from the next generation and
steal from the next budget cycle saying that we have paid for it. We
haven't paid for anything. What we are doing is sacrificing the
standard of living for future generations in this country through this
type of process.
If you want to bring the bill to the floor, which we have offered the
Senator from Maine, come to the floor, offer to spend $1 billion and
give us the cuts to pay for it. Let us make the hard decisions that we
were charged with to make among priorities in this country.
The other point I would make is there was an offer by the chairman of
the Budget Committee last year to put an additional $1 billion in this
fund. The Senator from New Hampshire offered to put another $1 billion
by taking a small percentage across the board from Health and Human
Services. This body voted that down. This body said we don't want to
take a little bit from everybody else to pay for additional LIHEAP. We
wouldn't even vote for it.
Now, when we are going to steal it from our children--the people who
can't defend themselves, the future taxpayers of this country--then we
are going to say it is OK, I believe it is morally wrong.
The people who need help today can get it. They can get it from the
TANF funds in the State of Maine and the Northeast. They can get it
from Health and Human Services, unallocated and unspent money that is
sitting there right now.
We are not for not helping people, and it is not true to characterize
it that way. We want to help anybody who truly needs our help.
The distribution under this formula, if you were to divide the money
by everybody who could be eligible under LIHEAP, comes to $35 a house.
The other point I would make, since LIHEAP started, we have averaged
$160 million a year in weatherization. That is $3.2 billion in
weatherization. There are some people who would suggest that multiple
homes have been winterized multiple times. There has been no oversight
on weatherization. There has been no oversight on how the money has
been spent. We have not done our job in terms of oversight to make sure
the money that goes for LIHEAP is spent in the proper way.
I believe it very noble that the Senators from Maine want to help
their constituency. Let us help you help your constituency but let us
not steal it from the next generation.
I reserve the remainder of our time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Collins). The Senator from Maine.
Ms. SNOWE. Madam President, how much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 3 minutes 36 seconds.
Ms. SNOWE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have an
additional 10 minutes on each side so we can make sure that everyone
who wants to speak has a chance to speak on this issue.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. ENSIGN. Madam President, reserving the right to object, we have a
lot of requests from folks who are trying to get out. I guess there are
planes leaving. How about 2 minutes for each side.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. SNOWE. Madam President, I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from
Minnesota.
Mr. COLEMAN. Madam President, I want to add my voice to this. This is
not about theoretical discussions. I understand we have debates about
oversight.
I held a hearing on this in Minnesota a couple of months ago.
By the way, winter is still there. And it is not just a matter of
winter still being there. In Minnesota, we have some programs that
allow heat not to be turned off and people have to pay that back
through the course of the summer.
I had a mom come forward who has three kids, who is working and going
to school, who is talking about having to give up going to school so
she can pay the heating bill. I had a senior woman come forward who is
paying 50 percent of her income for heat and medicine.
This is not a theoretical debate. This is about life and death. This
is about suffering.
Clearly, we have an opportunity and an obligation. I hope we do it
and simply do the right thing. This is a rich country. Those who need
to be heard, those who are raising their voices and asking us to do the
right thing in a way that is being paid for, we can debate that all we
want. But the bottom line is we have the opportunity to do what is
right.
I urge my colleagues to do the right thing and support the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. ENSIGN. Madam President, I want to reiterate a little about what
Senator Coburn talked about, whether this bill is paid for; if people
want to truly pay for this legislation then we must cut other areas of
spending. This is about priorities. If this is a priority--and a lot of
people think it is, the Senator from Minnesota and the Senators from
Maine and others from around the country believe it is a priority--then
other sacrifices must be made to meet this priority. We need to set
priorities in this country.
There are those of us who believe that deficits are real. They are
absolutely real. People get up and talk about them all the time. But
when it comes right down to whether you are willing to make tough
choices instead of just increasing the spending and passing that debt
on to the next generation, they aren't willing to offer other spending
cuts so that we are not increasing the deficit.
That is the point that Senator Coburn and myself are trying to make.
It is time to start being fiscally responsible around here instead of
just passing this debt on to the next generation.
I reserve the remainder of our time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). Who yields time?
The Senator from Maine.
[[Page S1635]]
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I yield 1 minute to the Senator from Rhode
Island.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, we are here because people are suffering
throughout the country, most particularly the coldest States.
Americans throughout this country--in the southland and in the
northwest--understand that in Maine in the winter and in Washington
State in the winter, people are freezing.
Senator Collins' very poignant and very telling story about what
happens when people are desperately cold should be remembered by all of
us.
I think it is astounding that we talk about poor people, trying to
help them with a little bit of money for their heat and suggest that we
take it from other poor people who use TANF money to feed their
children so the other people can have heat. We talk of being
responsible and say: Now we have to cut the deficit. I didn't hear that
message weeks ago when we were talking about huge tax cuts to benefit
the wealthiest Americans. That was not being responsible.
We have a chance to help people, a last chance to help people this
year who are literally freezing. It we do not take it, shame on us.
Mr. COBURN. How much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine has 3 minutes, and the
Senator from Oklahoma has 7 minutes 20 seconds.
Mr. COBURN. I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Alabama.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, the budget point of order is not a
technical budget point of order. It was a technical point of order with
regard to the asbestos bill. This bill would provide $1 billion more in
2006 than the budget authorized. If we are going to spend $1 billion
more than the budget authorized, how can that not be in violation of
the budget?
There are two aspects: first, you say it is paid for in the future.
That is irrelevant to whether the Budget Act is violated, even if it
were paid for. Second, we have been around here long enough to know we
are not going to cut LIHEAP next year by $1 billion. We know that.
As much as we would like to accommodate this spending--I can
understand the desire of the Senators to do so--we should not do it
because it violates the budget in a very fundamental way.
It clearly is an unfair allocation of funds compared to my State,
which receives $17 million less if it were distributed according to the
discretionary plan, as opposed to the fundamental formula.
I yield back my remaining time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I yield 1 minute to the Senator from
Connecticut.
Mr. DODD. I ask unanimous consent to be added as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, let me add to the words spoken by others.
With all due respect, we hear people talking about deficit financing,
and I could not agree more. Twenty years ago I offered a pay-as-you-go
bill that got 12 votes in the Senate. We ought to be doing that.
With all due respect, we have people in deep trouble, people not in a
position to have resources to take care of themselves. Those here who
live in the Northeast or the Midwest and the upper tier States
understand this problem.
I cannot say how many times I have voted when matters affected the
South or the West or when other parts of the country were devastated. I
do so proudly. I tell my constituents in Connecticut that they are
Americans, they are hurting, they need our help, and I give them my
vote when they are in trouble.
I find it astounding when I listen to Members who say my constituents
cannot get help in their time of need. That is what we are asking. It
is cold where we live. We have a month and a half of winter left.
The Senators from Maine are asking for little consideration. The next
time some Senator from some part of the country says they have a
problem in the gulf States, we will not hear the Senators from Maine
saying: I am sorry, we cannot deficit finance that. We will take care
of our people.
That is what we are asking you to do today: Help us take care of our
people. Support this, please.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mr. COBURN. I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for
yielding.
Mr. President, I have sort of a long history with this program. Years
ago on my watch we started this temporary program, this emergency
program called LIHEAP, energy assistance. Well, here we are, 10 years
later, almost 10, it is still here, and it is growing.
I guess one thing that shocked me, and this is an admission against
my interests, when I realized it went from being ``heating'' assistance
to being ``heating and air-conditioning'' assistance, I began to think:
How far will this go?
I was in the ninth grade before we had air-conditioning, and we
survived. We did not suffocate. It was damn hot down there on the
Mississippi gulf coast. You could not open your windows because
mosquitos would come in because we did not have screens on the windows.
So, now, millions is going into air-conditioning. And then we have
heat. What is it we are not going to give people for free? Is there any
limit? Is there any limit to the amount of money? I thought we were
having global warming. I thought it was a mild winter.
Yes, my bills have gone up. Mine have gone up astronomically in my
State because of the disaster.
I thank the Senators from Maine, particularly Senator Snowe, for this
not being connected to the flood insurance proposal. Flood insurance is
a completely different issue, and because people paid for this
coverage, it has already been paid for, they paid the Government for
their flood insurance, and now they are going to say: Gee, because the
Senate once again does not do its job and is playing games with us, we
are not going to get the checks for the coverage we already paid for? I
don't understand that.
Second, Senator Coburn and others who are opposed to this LIHEAP
proposal have acted responsibly. They could have been obstructionist,
the way they have been on other bills around here, to insist on a vote
on a motion to proceed. The Senators from Maine are going to make their
case. Those who are opposed to it will make our case. We will have a
vote. One side or the other will win, and then I recommend we go
forward at that point.
I do think if we are going to have this program, we at least need a
formula that is a national formula. I do not like the program. I would
prefer not a nickel of it go to my State, but I would not be doing my
job if I did not insist on a formula that is fair to all of us.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. SNOWE. Just to make a few final points because, again, there has
been a lot of misunderstanding, mischaracterizations,
misinterpretations of the facts. The facts are, this program has not
grown. That is indisputable.
Look at this chart and see where we are. The level of funding for
LIHEAP is equivalent to 1983 buying power, when oil per barrel costs
were at $29. Today it is more than $60. The buying power for any
household that depends on low-income fuel assistance has decreased from
50 percent in 2001 down to 19.5 percent. Look at the cost of home
heating oil. That is where we are today.
I go unchallenged when it comes to matching fiscal responsibility.
There are a number of issues I have offered in the Senate to accomplish
that. That has not occurred. I agree we have to do much more. But the
fact is, this $1 billion was included in the Deficit Reduction Act that
most Members voted for in this Senate last year that included this
funding and included this formula. Those are the facts. The $1 billion
and the formula were already included in the Deficit Reduction Act.
This is not increasing spending. It is budget neutral. It is the same
funding formula that everyone agreed to that would help both cold
weather and warm weather States. That is indisputable.
[[Page S1636]]
I hope at least we could debate the true and accurate facts. That is
what this is all about.
This is a national issue. It is not a regional issue, it is a
national issue. It is a national crisis. I hope the Senate will vote to
waive the budget point of order so we can provide the $1 billion that
was allocated in 2007 and advance it to 2006.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 3 minutes remaining.
Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, first of all, the Senator from Connecticut
makes a great point. This is not about regionalization. This is about
paying for something.
The Senator from Maine is absolutely right. It was in the act we
passed this last fall. But it was in there for next year. It was
advance funding so we would pay for the money for next year.
So if in fact we take this money now and move it out of next year, we
are going to have to come up with another $1 billion. You can play the
games with the numbers all you want, but the fact is, we are going to
have to come up with another $1 billion.
The other thing I point out, we are not in great financial shape. We
added half a trillion dollars. I was one of the few Republicans who did
not vote with the rest of my side in terms of the tax cuts this last
time through. I have been straightforward in addressing the financial
problems our country had.
I ask Members to look at this chart put out by NOAA that says, in
fact, for every area seeking today, they are either above normal or
much above normal in terms of their temperatures this year. My poor
State, Oklahoma, is red hot. It was 92 degrees yesterday in Oklahoma.
We set an all-time record. We had 20 or 30 days over 100 this past
summer.
I am not debating whether we should help people. I am debating can we
help people without killing our children. The offer was made several
times to the people offering this amendment: We will help you find
offsets to pay for this so we do not take it from future generations.
That was rejected, straightforward.
The fact is, we have to be responsible. We are going to have to come
to a point in time where we will have to make a hard choice. If we do
not, here is what will happen. The international financial community is
going to do it for us. Interest rates are going to go sky high. The
value of the dollar will fall through the floor. Talk about leaving a
heritage to our children. We will leave a heritage of poverty to our
children.
It is time for us to make the hard decision. Let's support this point
of order because it is right. If we do not support this point of order,
the budget does not mean anything, nor do the budget rules mean
anything, nor do the appropriations categories mean anything.
I yield back the remainder of our time, and I call for a vote.
Ms. COLLINS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a
sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the motion. The clerk will call the
roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the
Senator from Texas (Mrs. Hutchison).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer)
and the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 66, nays 31, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 30 Leg.]
YEAS--66
Akaka
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Burns
Burr
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Clinton
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Feingold
Frist
Grassley
Harkin
Hatch
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lugar
Menendez
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Salazar
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thune
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NAYS--31
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Chambliss
Coburn
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeMint
Ensign
Enzi
Feinstein
Graham
Gregg
Hagel
Inhofe
Isakson
Kyl
Lott
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Nelson (NE)
Roberts
Sessions
Shelby
Thomas
Vitter
NOT VOTING--3
Boxer
Hutchison
Inouye
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote the ayes are 66, the nays are 31.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the
affirmative, the motion is agreed to, and the point of order falls.
The Senator from Arizona.
Amendment No. 2899
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Arizona [Mr. Kyl], for himself and Mr.
Ensign, proposes an amendment numbered 2899.
Mr. KYL. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be
dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To make available funds included in the Deficit Reduction Act
of 2005 for allotments to States for the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program for fiscal year 2006)
Strike all after the first word and insert the following:
1. FUNDS FOR LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
Section 9001 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``for a 1-time only obligation and
expenditure--'' and all that follows through ``2007'' the
first place it appears and inserting ``$1,000,000,000 for
fiscal year 2006'';
(B) by striking ``; and''; and
(C) by striking paragraph (2);
(2) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Limitation.--None of the funds made available under
this section may be used for the planning and administering
described in section 2605(b)(9) of the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624(b)(9)).''; and
(4) in subsection (c) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)),
by striking ``September 30, 2007'' and inserting ``September
30, 2006''.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, let me briefly describe what the amendment
does. I appreciate the fact that most of my colleagues are leaving, and
we will have to have the debate next week. Since the budget point of
order was not sustained, we are going to proceed to the consideration
of the addition of $1 billion to the LIHEAP funding for low-income
energy assistance. Of course, in the colder States, that generally
takes the form of assistance in the heating oil bills to heat their
homes. We have, however, in other States a crisis in the middle of the
summer when it is so hot that folks have a hard time paying the air
conditioner bills. The issue is essentially the same.
It has been pointed out by one individual that more people actually
die as a result of heat than cold. In any event, we are pleased to see
$2 billion already having been spent for the low-income energy
assistance program in those colder States.
What we are talking about here is the addition of another $1 billion.
We are saying, as to this other $1 billion, it should be spent pursuant
to the formula in the law. What our amendment does is to say take this
additional $1 billion, spend it pursuant to the formula under the law.
That formula is broken into two parts. The first is $250 million and
the second is $750 million. The formula for the first $250 million
disburses it a certain way, and for the last $750 million, it disburses
it somewhat differently. That formula actually ends up getting money to
all of the States but in a different mix than the first $2 billion,
which is so-called contingency funding, which was almost all given to
support folks in the Northeast part of the United States, in the colder
part of the country.
The problem is that by the time we get to the summertime, almost all
of the money is used, and anybody who
[[Page S1637]]
needs it for air-conditioning assistance, of course, has nowhere to
turn. Last summer, when we had the record-high temperatures in Arizona,
we found that there was no money. We finally located about $183
million, if memory serves me, and by the time we located that funding,
it was virtually too late to do very much good.
That is the reason, at this point in the year, if we are going to
spend an additional billion dollars, we need to spend it pursuant to a
formula under which all States can receive funding, that it is
distributed fairly and spread out evenly so that the States that have
air-conditioning problems will receive the benefit from it just as
those States that have problems with the cold.
Mr. President, I suspect there is little point to further debating
this amendment at this time. I hope that when Members return, we will
be able to vote on this amendment. If we are going to add the
additional billion dollars, at least let's do it in a way that is more
fair. I think something like 38 States lose under the proposal of the
Senator from Maine, and they would actually be made more whole if my
amendment is adopted. I hope at that time we will act favorably on this
amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama is recognized.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise in support of the proposal
Senator Kyl has offered. I do believe it represents a step toward
fairness. But I do reiterate that I believe the budget point of order
should not have been waived, and that we actually spent, under this
proposal that has been cleared so far, another billion dollars this
year than we had within our budget. That is a bad thing. It is those
kinds of steps that get us into real trouble in spending.
We have my colleagues who say they care about spending; oh, they care
about spending. But time and time again, when a vote comes up that
actually has something to do with our deficit, they are AWOL. I thought
it was amusing that not long ago, a Senator referred to a vote he cast
15 years ago as if that is going to prove he is frugal. We have a vote
right now. This was the vote. This was a clear vote. It had to do with
whether we had any intention to be disciplined in the way we handle
money. They say: Well, we need this money. But the truth is we have had
the warmest January on record. This has been a very mild winter. For
that, we can be most thankful.
Is this an emergency? Well, what happens next year if it really is an
average or cold year and we don't have this billion dollars? It has
already been spent this year. And they say the heating oil prices don't
fall, they go up. They say the heating oil prices will go up again next
year. Where are we going to come up with that billion dollars? We don't
even have a proposal here to offset it.
With regard to the funding formula we have seen, if we can fund this
billion dollars in the way that has been proposed, my State, which
suffers from a lot of hot days--and in small houses and in mobile homes
that are not cooled, people do die. That is a tough time. If we are
going to have this fund, it is only fair that the poor people in my
State have a chance to participate in it, not just a select group.
So I just return to the fundamental principle. We are indeed moving a
piece of legislation that spends $1 billion more this year than we
authorized in spending. The fact that it came from next year's money
doesn't answer the question. We are spending a billion dollars more
than we were authorized to spend under our budget. What good is a
budget if we don't adhere to it?
What we have is some tax-and-spend people here. They vote against tax
cut extensions, they vote to raise taxes, and they vote to raise
spending. That is what it is about. They say they are frugal. They say
they are responsible. Those of us who are trying to contain spending
and maintain a low tax rate for the American people, they say somehow
we don't care about our people. That is not correct.
We are at a point in time when our Federal budget is allowing for an
increase in spending every year, and we will see again this year a very
sizable increase. We will have before the Budget Committee an effort to
contain just a little bit the growth of entitlements. Do you know what
I am hearing, Mr. President? I am hearing we don't have the votes in
the Budget Committee to even have a modest containment of spending on
entitlement programs, which is where the growth is--about $870 billion
for discretionary spending and $1.2 trillion for entitlements. The
discretionary budget this year will come in almost flat this year, with
little increase. But entitlement spending is going up at about a rate
of 7 percent or so. It is just driving our deficits. We cannot even
begin to discuss that, apparently, because people want to raise taxes
and spend. They want to tax and spend. It is not the right way to go.
That is not what this country was founded on.
When you look at the Europeans who have done tax and spend--look at
Germany, with 11.5 percent unemployment, and France has 9.5 percent
unemployment. That is what the statist Socialist economies produce. How
did they get there? Because their congresses could not resist the
demand to fund every feel-good program that comes along the pike. That
is why. Then when you meet with a businessman from Germany, he says: I
know we have to do something, Senator. Maybe we can cut back on this,
but people are so dependent on these government programs, so used to
them in Germany, that we cannot quite get the votes to stop it. We know
if we don't do it, it can wreck our economy, but we cannot get the
votes because people become addicted to it, they like it. They feel
like anything they once received, if it is not received the next year,
the demagogues say it is a big cut and you have been denied something
you are entitled to.
So I just say that if I seem a bit frustrated, you can know that I
am. We have had a lot of good discussion about how to contain the
growth of entitlements--and I am not a bit sure that is going to bear
fruit this year--just to maintain the current tax level and keep taxes
from being increased next year. Now we come along on top of a generous
LIHEAP program and add $1 billion more, in violation of the budget
agreement. We just voted to waive the Budget Act and do it anyway with
66 votes. I am telling you, this is not the way to get spending under
control in this country. It is the way to move our country to a statist
economy. That is not our strength.
Our unemployment is not 11.5. Our unemployment is not 9.5. Ours is
4.7. In my State of Alabama, it is 3.5. We didn't get there by taxing
and spending; we got there by reducing the burden of government on the
private sector and allowing the private sector to flourish. Tax
revenues are up in every city in the State, I do believe. I traveled 26
counties last week. Every mayor and county commissioner I talked to is
seeing increases in sales tax revenues. Many are telling me they have a
14-, 15-, to 18-percent increase in taxes. Why? Because the economy is
booming. Companies are hiring people. They are bidding up the wages.
They cannot find people, and they have to pay higher wages. People are
making more money, and they pay taxes on that. So revenue to the
Federal Government is up. Yes, we have a deficit, but revenue is up.
People don't pay taxes to Uncle Sam if they don't make money. They
are paying more taxes because they are making more money. We have a
free market economy that allows growth and vitality. So I think this
vote is an important vote for us as a people. It is a sad vote to me to
see many people who claim to be frugal, claim to care about spending,
but when the chips are down and we have a clearly dangerous bill like
this one, a bill that we ought to be able to vote down overwhelmingly,
we could not even get 40 votes to say no. We could not find 40 votes to
say no to this plan. I don't blame Senators for trying to do this. They
say that you in the South want help. Well, scrutinize the help we are
asking for. If we are asking for something that is unfair, say so, vote
against it. Don't come in here and vote for everything this one wants,
everything that one wants, and everything that one wants, and then walk
in here and say the deficit is too big and now we have to raise taxes.
That is where we are headed. I think everybody here knows that. There
are a lot on the other side of the aisle, and apparently some on this
side, for whom that is a strategy. That is a strategy. The strategy is
to increase spending and then say you cannot have lower
[[Page S1638]]
taxes and we have to have higher taxes and we have to raise taxes. They
don't want to say it publicly and openly, but that is what they are
working toward.
That is a big divide in the Congress, as I see it. I hate that we
have a dispute over this spending, but apparently we have. It is
discouraging to see the vote. But I think, as we continue to talk about
it, perhaps the American people will talk to their Senators and
Congressmen. When I travel around, they talk to me about spending. Of
course, they want their projects. They say: Oh, don't cut that. But
overall, they want constraint.
I believe the American people fundamentally will respect us if we
maintain some discipline. That means, on the discretionary account,
staying within our budget figure, which is basically flat spending.
When we are in a crisis, we try to keep our spending level. We have a
deficit. We ought to stay level. We are not slashing anything. We have
to stop going for more and more red ink, more and more new spending
programs that we have not had before to fund heating oil in the warmest
winter on record.
We are going to keep talking about it. There will be more votes in
this Congress and in this Senate. We did pretty well last year. We did
do some reduction--modest reduction in entitlements with the Medicaid
Program. We limited the growth of Medicaid, and we were proud of
ourselves. Over 5 years, it was going up 41 percent before we passed
the cost-saving bill, and now it is going up 40 percent. We thought we
were quite proud of ourselves to save a little money that way. If we
would do that on the other accounts, like Medicaid and Medicare and
some other accounts--just a little bit--we would have big numbers as we
go along and make a real difference in what we are doing. But it looks
like that may not happen.
So we are going to have to, I guess, reengage the American people,
reengage the Members of Congress, and they are going to be asked by
constituents: How did you vote? How did you vote on LIHEAP? Did you
vote to spend another $1 billion? Maybe we can begin to have the
American people talk some sense into those of us in Congress.
I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I have some remarks to make in tribute to
a combat infantry and armored brigade from Mississippi which has
returned from Iraq. I ask unanimous consent that I may speak as in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(The remarks of Mr. Cochran are printed in today's Record under
``Morning Business.'')
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sessions). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
____________________