[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 118 (Thursday, July 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6924-S6927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 LIHEAP

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I understand that there are a lot of 
differences in this body on the issue of speculation, which presumably 
is going to come up next week, on the issue of the role of the large 
oil companies and the enormous profits they are making, and there are 
differences of opinion about how fast and how aggressively we should go 
to sustainable energy and energy efficiency. But in one area, it 
appears to me there is less and less of a difference of opinion, and 
that is that more and more Members of the Senate understand that we are 
facing--right now, this summer, and in this coming winter--an energy 
crisis in terms of people going cold and perhaps freezing or dying from 
heat exhaustion this summer.
  I am very proud to say that we have had tripartisan support for a 
very substantial increase in the LIHEAP legislation bill I have 
offered; that is, S. 3186, the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act. 
That bill now has 47 cosponsors--34 Democrats, 11 Republicans, and 2 
independents. At a time when more and more Americans are concerned 
about the partisanship here in Congress, I am happy to say that this 
bill has very strong tripartisan support.
  I wish to thank the 34 Democrats who are cosponsors, including 
Senator Obama, Majority Leader Reid, and Senators Durbin, Murray, 
Landrieu, Leahy, Clinton, Cantwell, Jack Reed, Kerry, Kennedy, Schumer, 
Levin, Cardin, Brown, Klobuchar, Menendez, Casey, Bingaman, Lautenberg, 
Stabenow, Bill Nelson, Baucus, Salazar, Wyden, Whitehouse, Rockefeller, 
Dodd, Tester, Mikulski, Biden, Kohl, Dorgan, and McCaskill. I thank all 
those Democrats for their support, and the 11 Republican cosponsors we 
have, including Senators Snowe, Stevens, Coleman, Smith, Sununu, 
Collins, Murkowski, Gregg, Lugar, Bond, and Dole. I also thank the 
Independent, Senator Lieberman, for joining me as a cosponsor. Both 
Independents are on that bill.
  Let me also thank Majority Leader Reid for completing the rule XIV 
process and putting this bill directly on the calendar. Senator Reid 
understands, as I think most of us do, that this bill has very strong 
support. For the health and well-being of many millions of people, 
whether in the Northeast or in the South, it is absolutely imperative 
that we pass this legislation as soon as possible.
  In that regard, I want to express disappointment that just this 
morning, my Republican friend, Senator Cornyn, objected to a UC for 
passage of this bill and then objected to putting this bill on the 
floor and even giving us the opportunity to vote on it today. I hope my 
Republican friends and the Republican leadership reconsider this action 
because the truth is, there is a lot of support on the Republican side 
for increasing LIHEAP. I think it is imperative that we work together 
and we work as quickly as possible and we take a very strong load of 
anxiety off the shoulders of people from all over this country by 
passing this bill and getting a similar bill passed in the House.
  This tripartisan bill would nearly double the funding for LIHEAP in 
fiscal year 2008, taking it from $2.57 billion to $5.1 billion. That is 
a total increase of over $2.5 billion. This, in fact, is the amount at 
which LIHEAP is authorized. We should make no mistake about it, the 
issue we are dealing with is a life-and-death issue. It is life and 
death today, and it will be life and death next winter.
  I would like to report a statistic that is not widely known. When CNN 
gets its cameras out, they go to the tornadoes and the floods and the 
forest fires, and that is appropriate. Those are terrible tragedies we 
are all concerned

[[Page S6925]]

about. The truth is that more people in this country have died from the 
extreme heat and hypothermia since 1998 than all natural disasters 
combined. That is an interesting point, and you probably didn't know 
that. I didn't know that. But that is the case. And that includes 
floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes.
  The ``problem'' is what happens when maybe an old person in Florida 
can't afford electricity and has her air-conditioning turned off. She 
will die. Or a person with an illness in the State of Vermont, when the 
weather gets 20 below zero and he doesn't have the money to heat his 
home, he will die as well. And people die one at a time, not in great 
CNN-type disasters, but the reality is that more people die from 
extreme heat and extreme cold than they do from other types of 
emergencies. In Vermont and throughout New England, people are 
extremely worried that they will not have enough money to afford the 
price of heating oil next winter. A newspaper in my State of Vermont, 
the Stowe Reporter, recently editorialized that the lack of affordable 
heating oil could turn into New England's version of Hurricane Katrina 
next winter. We cannot allow that to happen.

  The problem is not just in the Northeast. The point I have to 
reiterate over and over, this is not just a cold weather problem for my 
State of Vermont and New England. This is a hot weather problem as 
well. It is not just a cold weather issue, it is a hot weather issue as 
well.
  Over the past decade, more than 400 people died of heat exposure in 
Arizona. Let me repeat that. Over the past decade, more than 400 people 
died of heat exposure in Arizona, including 31 in July of 2005 alone, 
31 people in 2005 in Arizona. All of these deaths could have been 
prevented if these people had air-conditioning.
  Without increased support from the Federal Government, Arizona will 
be out of LIHEAP funding before the end of this month. But if this bill 
passes, Arizona will see an infusion of $24 million in LIHEAP funding, 
triple what they currently receive.
  Let me quote a letter I received from the mayor of Phoenix, AZ. His 
name is Phil Gordon. I thank Mayor Gordon for sending me this letter. 
He is strongly supportive of this legislation. This is what the mayor 
of Phoenix, AZ, Phil Gordon, writes:
       I am writing to express my support for the Warm in Winter 
     and Cool in Summer Act. Currently Arizona can only provide 
     assistance to 6 percent of eligible LIHEAP households. . . . 
     To make matters worse, Phoenix continues to experience 
     extreme heat. In the past month alone, we have had 15 days 
     with temperatures at or above 110 degrees. This extreme heat 
     is especially hard on the very young, the elderly and 
     disabled who are on fixed incomes and can no longer afford to 
     cool their homes. . . . Arizona Public Service reported that 
     there was a 36 percent increase in the number of households 
     having difficulty in paying utility bills and an increase of 
     11,000 families being disconnected compared to a year ago. 
     Rising energy and housing costs are placing enormous strains 
     on low-income households across Arizona.

  What Mayor Gordon of Phoenix is talking about is taking place all 
over this country. We are in the middle of a recession. People are 
losing their work. Wages are going down. The price of fuel in general 
is going up. That includes electricity. If you are dependent on 
electricity for air-conditioning, and your electricity gets shut off 
and you are old and you are sick, you have a serious problem. That is 
what this legislation is going to address.
  In my State of Vermont and throughout New England and the Northeast, 
people are extremely worried that they will not have enough money to 
afford the price of heating oil next winter.
  A newspaper in my State of Vermont, the Stowe Reporter, recently 
editorialized that the lack of affordable heating oil could turn into 
New England's version of Hurricane Katrina next winter. We cannot allow 
that to happen.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control, over 1,000 Americans 
from across the country died from hypothermia in their own homes from 
1999 to 2002, the latest figures we have available. In other words, 
they froze to death because they could not afford to heat their homes. 
How many of these deaths were preventable? All of them, according to 
the CDC. We will probably not know for several years how many Americans 
died last winter because they could not afford to heat their homes--but 
one death is too many.
  And, I want all of my colleagues to understand. This home energy 
crisis that we are in extends far beyond New England and the Northeast. 
Today, people in the South and Southwest are struggling to pay for the 
skyrocketing price of electricity, which has tripled in some parts of 
the country.
  The result is that essential utility services are being cut-off 
because they cannot afford to pay their bills. What that means is that 
elderly, frail and sick people trying to stay alive in 110 degree 
temperatures face a major health crisis if their electricity is shut 
off.
  In other words, whether you are living in the north or the south or 
the east or the west, our country is facing a national emergency and it 
is about time that the President of the United States and the Congress 
treated it as such.
  And, while energy prices are soaring, LIHEAP funding is 23 percent 
less than it was just 2 years ago, completely eviscerating the 
purchasing power of this extremely important program. In fact, after 
adjusting for inflation, the Federal Government spent more money on 
LIHEAP 20 years ago than it is spending today.
  To demonstrate how important LIHEAP is right now for southern States 
dealing with a major heat wave, I want to give you just a few examples 
of what I am referring to.
  Over the past decade, more than 400 people died of heat exposure in 
Arizona, including 31 in July of 2005 alone. All of these deaths could 
have been prevented if these people had air conditioning. Without 
increased support from the Federal Government, Arizona will be out of 
LIHEAP funding before the end of this month. But, if this bill passes, 
Arizona will receive an infusion of over $24 million in LIHEAP 
funding--triple what they currently receive--to keep their residents 
cool this summer.
  Due to a lack of LIHEAP funding, the State of Texas only provides air 
conditioning assistance to about 4 percent of those who qualify. 
Recently, I received a letter from Shawnee Bayer from the Community 
Action Committee in Victoria, TX. In her letter, Ms. Bayer writes:

       The temperatures in our area have been 100 to 110 degrees 
     for 16 consecutive days. I fear it is going to be very tragic 
     at the current pace we are going with so little LIHEAP 
     funding available. . . . There are so many who need our 
     assistance, like the elderly lady in her 80s who recently 
     almost died due to kidney failure; now she doesn't want to 
     use her air conditioner because she is afraid she won't be 
     able to pay the bill. . . . She just called me last 
     Thursday and has pneumonia; she could hardly talk. . . . 
     Last year she was placed in the hospital in the ICU due to 
     a heat stroke as a result of using only a fan, not the air 
     conditioner. I see children every day who have not eaten 
     because the parents, grandparents and in some cases great 
     grandparents are just trying to keep the electricity on . 
     . . . the electric bills in our area have tripled.

  That is in Victoria, TX. In addition, I also received an e-mail from 
DeAndra Baker from the Community Action Agency in Giddings, TX, who 
said:

       We have a gentleman who is 78 years old and on a fixed 
     income of $770.00 a month. . . . Due to the extremely high 
     temperatures he is unable to afford to keep his home cool. 
     His doctor provided a statement that he must have his air 
     conditioner turned on at a minimum of 80 degrees to avoid 
     congestive heart failure and he is not even able to afford 
     that much. Sadly, he will not continue to run his A/C or fans 
     and will be at serious risk unless LIHEAP funding is 
     increased soon.

  That is what is going on in the State of Texas. If this bill is 
signed into law, Texas will receive over $47 million to help keep their 
residents cool this summer. But it is not just Texas.
  Without additional support from the Federal Government, the State of 
Georgia will not be able to offer any LIHEAP assistance whatsoever to 
its residents this summer. Currently, Georgia has a waiting list of 
28,000 people hoping to receive some relief from the hot weather this 
summer. To demonstrate the desperate need for more LIHEAP funding, let 
me tell you about an e-mail my office received from the executive 
director of the Community Action Agency in Gainesville, GA, Janice 
Riley. According to Ms. Riley, their agency has been out of LIHEAP 
funding since last December. She was particularly distressed about two 
families in Georgia who she could not help because of a lack of LIHEAP 
funding. This is what she had to say:

       One family that came in after we ran out of LIHEAP funds 
     was the Jones family. . . .

[[Page S6926]]

     Mr. Jones, came to our office requesting assistance with his 
     electric bill. He has a wife and five children. . . . They 
     got behind with all their bills when he was injured on the 
     job six months ago. . . . Their daughter is paralyzed from 
     the neck down from a fall she had at six months of age. I 
     wish we could help them. Another participant that did not 
     receive LIHEAP funds and is now facing disconnection or 
     homelessness is Ms. O'Brien, a 33 year old, single parent 
     with 5 children between the ages of 7-16, and a newborn 
     grandchild which she has taken in. . . . Her power was turned 
     off last week because she was unable to pay it. . . . Her 
     need for assistance is based on the high costs of living, not 
     from her lack of work ethic and heroic efforts to maintain 
     her household.

  That is what is going on in the State of Georgia. If this bill is 
signed into law, the State of Georgia would receive over $70 million to 
make sure their residents stay cool this summer.
  In addition, unless S. 3186 is signed into law soon, the State of 
Kentucky will not be able to keep any of their residents cool this 
summer through the LIHEAP program. According to the executive director 
of the Community Action Agency in Kentucky, Kip Bowmar:

       February of 2008 marked the first time in the program's 
     history that all 120 Counties in Kentucky ran out of LIHEAP 
     funds, forcing us to close our doors as fuel prices were 
     soaring and people needed help.

  If S. 3186 is signed into law, the State of Kentucky will receive 
nearly $35 million to keep their residents cool this summer and warm in 
the winter.
  In Florida, Hilda Frazier, the State director of the LIHEAP program, 
has estimated that they will serve 26,000 fewer households this year 
because of the reduction of available LIHEAP funding and the rising 
cost of energy. According to Ms. Frazier, thousands of families in 
Florida are being turned away from LIHEAP offices each and every month 
because they do not have any money. Of the 2 million LIHEAP eligible 
households in Florida, they will be able to assist fewer than 4 percent 
of them.
  The State of Arkansas is also rapidly running out of LIHEAP funding. 
The LlHEAP coordinator in Benton, AR, recently had to deny assistance 
to over 430 families there because they had no money. If this bill is 
signed into law, Arkansas would receive nearly $26 million to help keep 
their residents cool this summer.
  Moving on to California, Joan Graham, The deputy director of the 
Community Action Agency in Sacramento, CA, recently wrote that:

       Every day, we are turning away at least 50 families who 
     qualify for LIHEAP because we lack resources. Energy bills 
     have increased 30% over last year, yet our funding has not 
     increased. In 2006, there were 29 heat-related deaths in 
     Sacramento County. One senior who passed away due to extreme 
     heat was afraid to turn on his air conditioner because he 
     knew he would be unable to pay the electric bill. We know 
     there are more like him out there at present.

  If this bill is signed into law, California will receive over $100 
million to keep their residents cool this summer and warm next winter.
  Why is LIHEAP so important in the south in the summertime?
  According to the Centers for Disease Control, the annual mortality 
rate from extreme heat in the U.S. has exceeded the death tolls of 
floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined since 1998. Meanwhile, fewer 
resources have been allocated to heat-related problems than to other 
extreme weather events.
  In other words, while more people in this country are dying from heat 
exposure than any other natural disaster in this country combined; the 
Federal Government spends less money preventing these deaths from 
occurring than any other natural disaster we face.
  From 1999-2003, over 3,400 deaths in this country were due to 
excessive heat. All of these deaths were preventable and air 
conditioning is the best way to prevent these deaths, according to the 
CDC.
  How many more heat-related deaths will occur in this country if we do 
not increase LIHEAP? We cannot wait to find out.
  My heart goes out to the people of Iowa and other areas in the 
Midwest that have been devastated by the recent flooding. I supported 
the additional Federal resources that were included in the supplemental 
to help them through this difficult time.
  But, let us not forget about senior citizens who will die of heat 
exposure if we don't help them out this summer. And, let's not wait 
until it's too late to provide the assistance needed to keep Americans 
warm in the north this winter.
  In addition to these facts, tens of thousands of Americans have had 
their utility and natural gas services shut off this year and millions 
more are in danger of having these services shut off because they are 
at least 1 month late in paying their bills.
  Increasing LIHEAP funding will allow these Americans to turn their 
electricity and other essential utility services back on right now so 
that they can cool their homes this summer and heat their homes next 
winter.
  According to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, a 
record-breaking 15.6 million American families or nearly 15 percent of 
all households, are at least 30 days overdue in paying their utility 
bills.
  USA Today recently reported that ``Electricity and natural gas 
shutoffs are up at least 15 percent in several states compared with 
last year. Totals for some utilities have more than doubled.''
  The article then goes on to give the following examples:

       In Pennsylvania, PPL Electric Utilities disconnected 7,054 
     customers through April this year, up 168 percent over the 
     same 2007 period.
       Duke Energy in North Carolina is averaging about 11,000 
     shutoffs a month, 14 percent above last year.
       Disconnects are up 27 percent for Peoples Gas in Chicago, 
     14 percent for Southern California Edison and 56 percent for 
     Detroit Edison. In Michigan, where home foreclosures are 
     soaring and the unemployment rate is the USA's highest, more 
     than one in five Detroit Edison customers were behind in 
     their electric bills in May.

  ``Some help is available,'' USA Today goes on to report. ``The Low-
Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is providing $2.5 
billion in fiscal 2008, but funds are depleted.''
  Due to insufficient funding, the average LIHEAP grant only pays for 
18 percent of the total cost of heating a home with heating oil; 21 
percent of residential propane costs; 41 percent of natural gas costs; 
and 43 percent of electricity costs. What this means is that low income 
families with children; senior citizens on fixed incomes and persons 
with disabilities will have to make up the remaining costs out of their 
own pockets.
  And, only 16 percent of eligible LIHEAP recipients currently receive 
assistance with their home energy bills. What that means is that 84 
percent of eligible low-income families with children, senior citizens 
on fixed incomes and persons with disabilities do not receive any 
LIHEAP assistance whatsoever due to a lack of funding.
  Unless we significantly increase LIHEAP funding, two things will 
happen: fewer and fewer Americans will receive the assistance to keep 
their homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer; or the grants 
they receive will become smaller and smaller even as the price of 
energy soars. We cannot allow that to happen.
  No family in our Nation should be forced to choose between paying 
their home energy bills and putting food on the table. No senior 
citizen should have to decide between buying life-saving prescriptions 
and paying utility bills. For individuals and households that may have 
to face these difficult choices, LlHEAP makes a real difference in 
their ability to cope with adverse circumstances.
  For all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the Warm in 
Winter and Cool in Summer Act.
  There are differences, obviously, in the Senate, differences within 
the House, on a number of very important energy issues. I understand 
that. I appreciated the differences. I have my point of view. Other 
people have different points of view.
  There is far less difference of opinion--I think widespread support--
among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents that we need to move. We 
need to move quickly to significantly expand LIHEAP funding. By 
expanding it, by doubling it, we are doing nothing more than keeping 
pace with inflation because the price of home heating fuel in my State 
has doubled so all we are doing is keeping even.
  I hope we will come together as a body--progressives conservatives, 
Republicans, Democrats, Independents--and pass this legislation 
quickly. There is a companion piece in the House. I

[[Page S6927]]

hope we can get that done and bring the two pieces together. We are 
going to be able to provide some relief to millions of Americans.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sanders). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________