[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 20, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S296-S297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 74. Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
Whitehouse, Mr. Casey, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Schumer) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1, to approve 
the Keystone XL Pipeline; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
       (1) The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (referred 
     to in this section as

[[Page S297]]

     ``LIHEAP'') is the main Federal program that helps low-income 
     households and senior citizens with their energy bills, 
     providing vital assistance during both the cold winter and 
     hot summer months.
       (2) Recipients of LIHEAP assistance are among the most 
     vulnerable individuals in the country, with more than 90 
     percent of LIHEAP households having at least one member who 
     is a child, a senior citizen, or disabled, and 20 percent of 
     LIHEAP households including at least one veteran.
       (3) The number of households eligible for LIHEAP assistance 
     continues to exceed available funding, with current funding 
     reaching just 20 percent of the eligible population.
       (4) The average LIHEAP grant covers just a fraction of home 
     energy costs, leaving many low-income families and senior 
     citizens struggling to pay their energy bills and with fewer 
     resources available to meet other essential needs.
       (5) Access to affordable home energy is a matter of health 
     and safety for many low-income households, children, senior 
     citizens, and veterans.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that LIHEAP should be funded at not less than $4,700,000,000 
     annually, to ensure that more low-income households and 
     children, senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and 
     veterans can meet basic home energy needs.
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