[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 187 (Wednesday, December 7, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8417-S8418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Brown of 
        Ohio, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, Mr. Casey, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Ms. Collins, Mr. Brown of Massachusetts, Ms. Ayotte, 
        Mr. Schumer, Mr. Webb, Mr. Begich, and Mr. Cardin):
  S. 1961. A bill to provide level funding for the Low-Income Home 
Energy Assistance Program; to the Committee on Appropriations.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am introducing the bipartisan LIHEAP 
Protection Act, along with my colleagues Senator Snowe from Maine and 
Senator Sanders from Vermont, and many of our colleagues on both sides 
of the aisle. I am pleased to see such broad support for funding for 
this critical program even in the midst of our budget challenges.
  Indeed, LIHEAP is a lifeline, providing vulnerable families with 
vital assistance when they need it most by helping low-income families 
and seniors on fixed-incomes with their energy bills.
  Last year, Congress provided $4.7 billion for LIHEAP. In an effort to 
control Federal spending, the Administration proposed an approximately 
45 percent cut in LIHEAP funds from last year's level, down to about 
$2.57 billion in 2012. The Senate and House Appropriations bills only 
partially restored this drastic cut, to roughly $3.6 billion and $3.4 
billion, respectively.
  These cutbacks could put our most vulnerable citizens at risk, 
especially as the number of households eligible for the program already 
exceeds those receiving assistance. Given the difficult economy and the 
projected rise in household energy expenditures, as much as 8 percent 
more than last year for those who heat their homes with heating oil 
according to the Energy Information Administration, it does not make 
sense to cut vital LIHEAP funding.
  We also need to act quickly. If funding is not finalized before 
winter, millions of low-income households run the risk of not receiving 
assistance during the coldest months when they need it most. Given the 
uncertainty in the full year appropriations for LIHEAP, which resulted 
in the release of only $1.7 billion in LIHEAP funding to States in 
October, some States have already begun lowering LIHEAP grant amounts.
  LIHEAP is a smart investment. For every dollar in benefits paid, 
$1.13 is generated in economic activity, according to economists Mark 
Zandi and Alan S. Blinder.
  I know we face a lot of difficult budget decisions around here, but 
I, along with so many of my colleagues, believe that LIHEAP should not 
be the place where we seek savings.
  I look forward to working to provide level funding for LIHEAP for 
fiscal year 2012.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1961

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``LIHEAP Protection Act''.

     SEC. 2. LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section--
       (1) is to ensure the appropriation for fiscal year 2012 of 
     the total amounts described in subsection (b), for payments 
     described in that subsection, under this Act or prior 
     appropriations Acts; and
       (2) is not to require the appropriation of additional 
     amounts for those payments, under appropriations Acts enacted 
     after this Act.
       (b) Appropriation.--In addition to any amounts appropriated 
     under any provision of Federal law, as of the date of 
     enactment of this Act, there is appropriated, out of any 
     money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal 
     year 2012--
       (1) an amount sufficient to yield a total amount of 
     $4,501,000,000, for making payments under subsections (b) and 
     (d) of section 2602 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
     Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621), and all of such total amount 
     shall be used under the authority and conditions applicable 
     to such payments under the Full-Year Continuing 
     Appropriations Act, 2011; and
       (2) an amount sufficient to yield a total amount of 
     $200,000,000, for making payments under section 2602(e) of 
     the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 
     8621(e)), notwithstanding the designation requirement of such 
     section 2602(e), and all of such total amount shall be used 
     under the authority and conditions applicable to such 
     payments under the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 
     2011.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       It is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) this Act should be carried out in a manner consistent 
     with the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25; 125 
     Stat. 240);
       (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should 
     continue and expedite program integrity efforts to identify 
     best practices used by grant recipients under the Low-Income 
     Home Energy Assistance Program, provide training and 
     technical assistance to such grant recipients, recommend 
     policy changes, and assess and mitigate risk at the Federal, 
     State and local levels, in order to eliminate any waste, 
     fraud, and abuse in the Program and strengthen the Program so 
     all Program funds reach the households who need them most; 
     and
       (3) every Program dollar going to waste, fraud, and abuse 
     is a dollar not being spent as the dollar is needed or 
     intended.

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words about an issue 
of enormous importance to the people of the State of Vermont and people 
all over this country; that is, the issue of making sure that in 
America this winter nobody goes cold, that nobody freezes to death, 
that children do not become ill because the thermostats in their homes 
are turned down so low.
  The issue I am talking about is to ask for support for legislation 
that is being introduced by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island and 
Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine which would level fund the LIHEAP 
program at $4.7 billion. As most of my colleagues know, LIHEAP is the 
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
  Here is the problem we face. We are in the midst of a horrendous 
recession. Unemployment is sky high. In many cases, wages are in 
decline, poverty is increasing, and at the same time the price for home 
heating oil and propane gas is going up. According to the Energy 
Information Administration, average expenditures for households that 
heat with oil or propane are forecast to be higher than in any previous 
winter. Heating oil prices are currently averaging about $3.90 a 
gallon. So what people in the Northeast and people all over this 
country are looking at are the highest home heating oil prices we have 
ever seen, coming in the midst of a terrible recession, with 
unemployment high and wages in decline.
  In Vermont, heating oil prices are already 34 percent higher than 
they were at the same time last year. It is currently $3.82 a gallon, 
compared to $2.85 a gallon last year. What is happening is that because 
of cuts--significant cuts--in LIHEAP funding, the average LIHEAP 
benefit in Vermont is 45 percent less this year than it was last year, 
and that is $474 per family as opposed to $866 last year.
  One thing that has to be understood about LIHEAP is that nearly 80 
percent of funding from this program goes to our citizens who are 
elderly, families with preschool kids, and the disabled. So the people 
who benefit from this program are some of the most vulnerable people in 
our country. Eighty percent of the funding, once again, goes to senior 
citizens, families with preschool children, young children, and people 
who are dealing with disabilities.

[[Page S8418]]

  It is not uncommon in the State of Vermont and in other States for 
the temperatures to drop to 10 below zero or 20 below zero in the 
wintertime. When people do not have enough funds to heat their homes or 
their apartments, serious problems arise.
  What I want to do is take a moment to read some comments my office 
has received from Vermonters all over the State who are trying 
desperately to stay warm this winter.
  Josie Crosby, 81 years of age, of Brattleboro, VT, said this:

       We will have money for one more tank. After that, I don't 
     know.

  That is a woman who is 81 years of age who has money for one more 
tank of oil. After that, she is not sure how they will stay warm in the 
winter.
  A 48-year-old from Orleans County in the northern part of our State 
wrote this:

       I was able to get 100 gallons of fuel last week, and for 
     that I am grateful. The struggle begins now on how to stretch 
     that fuel as long as possible. I had to buy a portable 
     electric heater to keep halfway warm while waiting for fuel 
     assistance. I don't even want to see how high my electric 
     bill will be. I am an honorably discharged disabled veteran 
     and have limited funds. I have already slashed my food bill, 
     so what goes next? My meds, my electric service, my home?

  That is from a disabled vet in the northern part of Vermont.
  A 59-year-old woman in central Vermont writes:

       I have been keeping my thermostat as low as I can 
     ``almost'' tolerate. I bundle up in the house with several 
     sweaters, and even a coat and hat at times. When company 
     arrives, I am embarrassed at how ridiculous I probably 
     appear. I am just barely squeaking through each month. I have 
     made cuts everywhere possible, including food.

  Wendy Raven, 62, from Whitingham, VT, writes:

       I had to drag my bed out of my bedroom and put it in the 
     living room, then close off the bedroom for the winter. I 
     will have to eat even less than I do now in order to pay my 
     fuel bills. I have done everything I can to button up the 
     place, but now all I can do is pray I get through the winter 
     without a bill so large it will again take me until next fall 
     to pay it off.

  Is that where we are in the United States of America--that we force 
people to live under those conditions?
  A 31-year-old woman from Bennington, VT, writes:

       We are now trying to stay warm by scraping up enough for a 
     gallon or two of heating oil a week, and keeping the 
     thermostat down very low. I turn the furnace off during the 
     day when my child is in school and turn it on an hour before 
     she gets home so that the house gets warm. We are hoping to 
     qualify for crisis fuel assistance or we are in trouble, 
     because there is nowhere to get the extra money needed to pay 
     for the fuel, especially considering its continuously 
     increasing cost. We have to choose what bills to pay each 
     month and what ones not in order to put food on the table.

  In this great Nation, in the midst of a recession, in the midst of 
high unemployment, in the midst of growing poverty, we as the Senate 
must be very clear that nobody in this country is going to go cold this 
winter; that we are not going to pick up a paper in Maine or Rhode 
Island or Vermont or North Dakota and read that some senior citizen was 
found frozen to death. That is not what we are going to allow. That is 
why Senators Jack Reed, Olympia Snowe, I, and many others are working 
hard so that at the very least we can level fund LIHEAP so that nobody 
in our country goes cold this winter.

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