[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15822-S15823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 LIHEAP

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by thanking my good friend, 
the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee, for 
yielding.
  The reason I rise is to deal with a very important issue that impacts 
millions of our fellow Americans, and that is all over this country, 
with the price of home heating oil soaring, people are wondering about 
how they are going to stay warm this winter. My very fervent hope is 
that the Congress, both the Senate and the House, will address this 
issue before we adjourn for the Christmas holidays.
  I commend Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell, the 
chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Byrd, Chairman 
Harkin, and others for, in fact, adding a significant sum of money--
over $400

[[Page S15823]]

million--to the Omnibus appropriations bill. This is important, and I 
appreciate that. I think people all over this country appreciate that.
  Unfortunately, however, this total of $2.6 billion in funding for 
LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, that so many 
people, so many elderly people depend upon in order to stay warm in the 
wintertime, while it is an 18-percent increase from last year, it is 
still 23 percent below what was provided for LIHEAP just 2 years ago in 
nominal dollars. Meanwhile, as everybody knows, the cost of home 
heating fuels has soared. Compared to 2 years ago, heating oil prices 
are projected to be 50 percent higher this winter. The price of propane 
will be 38 percent higher, and electricity prices will be 14 percent 
higher. These high prices, coupled with the reduction in LIHEAP 
assistance compared to 2 years ago, mean States will be forced to 
either reduce the number of people who will be receiving LIHEAP or else 
to significantly cut back on the amount of money that people will be 
receiving. There is no question about what will happen if that occurs: 
People in the United States of America will be cold. It is possible 
that some may actually be freezing.
  Two years ago, thanks to the leadership of Senator Snowe and many 
other Senators, LIHEAP funding was increased by $1 billion above the 
appropriated level because it was then the belief that we faced a home 
heating emergency. Well, if we faced a home heating emergency at that 
point, let me tell my colleagues we face one today that is even more 
severe. In the State of Vermont and all over this country, we are 
having elderly people living on fixed incomes who are looking at the 
soaring prices of home heating fuels. They are scared to death. It 
seems to me that we have the moral responsibility as the Senate of the 
United States of America to do something for those people before we 
adjourn.
  I thank my colleague, Senator Leahy from Vermont, as well as Senators 
Coleman, Klobuchar, Snowe, Obama, Dole, Baucus, Sununu, Cantwell, 
Collins, Casey, Lieberman, Landrieu, Kerry, Kennedy, and Clinton for 
supporting an amendment that will essentially increase LIHEAP funding 
by $800 million, half of which will go into the normal LIHEAP formula, 
half will go into emergency funding to be used at the discretion of the 
President.
  While those Senators are already onboard, I know there are many other 
Senators--Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--who are also 
wanting a vote to show the people back home that we have not forgotten 
them and that we do not want any Americans to go cold this winter.
  Let me simply conclude by suggesting to you that the people of our 
country all over America are losing faith in the U.S. Government. That 
is no secret. Polling for the President, polling for Congress is at an 
almost all-time low. They think we are concerned about a whole lot of 
issues, but we are not concerned about them. It seems to me that before 
we go home to our well-heated homes, before we go home to our vacation 
time, that we not turn our backs on some of those who are most in need. 
I think we have to act boldly to restore faith in the U.S. Government, 
and I hope that before we leave, we can get a vote on this floor with 
bipartisan support, and that we can move this process forward.
  Mr. President, with that, I thank my good friend, Senator Byrd, the 
outstanding leader of our Appropriations Committee, for yielding, and I 
yield back the remainder of my time.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the very distinguished Senator for 
his remarks.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senator from West Virginia has the 
floor, but would he yield me at least a couple minutes in reference to 
what my colleague from Vermont just spoke about?
  Mr. BYRD. Yes, Mr. President. I am glad to do so.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished chairman. I agree 
with what the Senator from Vermont has just said. In our State, cold 
weather is not a rarity, it is a fact of life, especially this time of 
the year. The thermometer on my front steps goes down to 20 below zero. 
Many times there is no mercury showing because it has gone below that.
  Now, that is not theoretical cold, that is cold you die from. I know 
what it has cost us in filling the tank for my own furnace this year, 
and I wonder how many people who are not privileged to have the kind of 
salaries all of us do, how they possibly do it. It is not a matter of 
just help; this is a matter of life or death. It is not a matter of 
just comfort. We are not talking about the weather being in the fifties 
and perhaps you can just put on more sweaters or more coats; we are 
talking about it being 5 or 10 and 15 and 20 degrees below zero, or 
even today in Burlington, VT, it began at zero. The temperature was at 
zero, and then it warmed up from last night. In those situations you 
die if you don't have heat. It is not a question of being comfortable; 
you die. It is as simple as that. You die. There are a lot of people 
who cannot afford this.
  I will work with the distinguished Senator from Vermont, as I have 
with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in trying to get more 
money after this bill is passed for LIHEAP. I know the distinguished 
Senator from West Virginia has supported us every single time on 
LIHEAP. He also knows what it is like in those rural areas of West 
Virginia where people barely eke out a living and what happens to them 
when the snow is falling and it is cold outside and the children are 
crying because they are cold and the parents are doing everything 
possible to keep them warm. We will work on this.
  I thank the Senator from West Virginia for yielding me the time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.

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