[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 29, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S4221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-52. A joint resolution adopted by the General Assembly 
     of the State of Tennessee memorializing Congress to continue 
     to support career and technical education programs, including 
     the Perkins Tech Prep program; to the Committee on Health, 
     Education, Labor, and Pensions.

                    Senate Joint Resolution No. 111

       Whereas, the career and technical education programs 
     available to our students here in Tennessee and across this 
     great Nation are a most vital tool for the economic future 
     and advancement of the United States; and
       Whereas, on February 11, the House Appropriations Committee 
     in Washington, D.C., introduced legislation, H.R. 1, 
     legislation which completely eliminates funding for the 
     Perkins Tech Prep program for the 2011-2012 school year and 
     makes drastic cuts across other education and workforce 
     development programs; and
       Whereas, career and technical education programs play an 
     integral role in providing our students with the experience 
     and training necessary to compete in the modern economy and a 
     reduction in funding will harm Tennessee's students and 
     communities, both big and small, as well as the economic 
     well-being of America: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the One Hundred Seventh General 
     Assembly of the State of Tennessee, the House of 
     Representatives Concurring, That this General Assembly hereby 
     memorializes the United States Congress to continue to 
     support career and technical education programs, including 
     the Perkins Tech Prep program. Be it further
       Resolved, That a certified copy of this resolution be 
     transmitted to the President and the Secretary of the United 
     States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States 
     House of Representatives, and to each member of Tennessee's 
     Congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-53. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana memorializing the Congress of the 
     United States to sustain home energy assistance for at-risk 
     Louisianians and to declare June 2011 as ``Save LIHEAP'' 
     Month; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
     Pensions.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 33

       Whereas, the federal home energy assistance program is of 
     vital interest to the state of Louisiana and to low to 
     moderate income households, especially the elderly, disabled, 
     or young citizens, who struggle disproportionately to afford 
     heating and cooling costs; and
       Whereas, Congress is considering the proposed budget to 
     reduce the fiscal year 2012 Low Income Home Energy Assistance 
     Program (LIHEAP) formula grant funding by fifty-seven percent 
     nationally; and
       Whereas, this reduction is disproportionately more damaging 
     in Louisiana, triggering a sixty-seven percent loss, 
     resulting in the life-threatening decrease of 34.7 million 
     dollars to Louisiana; and
       Whereas, due to the loss of these funds, tens of thousands 
     of vulnerable Louisiana citizens will lose access to the 
     LIHEAP's vital energy services; and
       Whereas, more than four hundred and seventy-six thousand 
     Louisiana households meet LIHEAP's stringent income 
     eligibility requirements; and
       Whereas, of these households, one hundred eighty-four 
     thousand shelter someone over the age of sixty, ninety-six 
     thousand are children under the age of six, and one hundred 
     and fifty-four thousand are handicapped individuals, 
     including disabled veterans; and
       Whereas, for a Louisiana family of four to be eligible for 
     LIHEAP, the family must earn no more than twenty-seven 
     dollars per day, per capita; and
       Whereas, although nearly a half-million Louisiana 
     households meet LIHEAP's federal income criteria, only a 
     small fraction of eligible households are actually helped due 
     to already limited federal funding; and
       Whereas, Louisiana's ability to reach at-risk families 
     through LIHEAP is entirely dependent upon the provision of 
     adequate funding from Congress; and
       Whereas, home energy assistance is particularly important 
     in Louisiana due to intermittent intense heat and humidity, 
     which is especially threatening to the elderly, disabled, and 
     young citizens; and
       Whereas, if the program's core block grants were reduced as 
     proposed, Louisianians would be disproportionately affected, 
     because the national program would be statutorily precluded 
     from considering current population, poverty, and energy 
     price data and mirroring outdated needs of twenty-five years 
     ago; and
       Whereas, unless Congress sustains LIHEAP, Louisiana's most 
     vulnerable citizens will be placed at an unnecessarily 
     greater risk. Therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Louisiana Legislature hereby declares 
     June, 2011 to be ``Save LIHEAP Month'' and encourages public 
     and private citizens to join in by encouraging their 
     respective congressional delegation to sustain this vital 
     program at its long-standing national appropriation of five 
     point one billion dollars during federal Fiscal Year 2012. Be 
     it further
       Resolved, That the Legislature of Louisiana hereby 
     memorializes the Congress of the United States to sustain 
     home energy assistance for at-risk Louisianians and to 
     declare June 2011 as ``Save LIHEAP'' Month. Be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution shall be 
     transmitted to the secretary of the United States Senate and 
     the clerk of the United States House of Representatives and 
     to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United 
     States Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-54. A resolution adopted by the city of Lackawanna, New 
     York requesting the city of Lackawanna be united under one 
     New York State Assembly-Member; to the Committee on the 
     Judiciary.

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