[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 178 (Friday, October 8, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1077-E1078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    ACKNOWLEDGING THE IMPORTANCE OF FUNDING FOR THE WEATHERIZATION 
                           ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DAVID B. McKINLEY

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2021

  Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the importance of 
robust funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program in the 
bipartisan infrastructure bill. The purpose of this program is to 
prepare the buildings that low-income Americans live in for the 
requirements of the 21st century.
  The current limitations to the formula that provide funding for this 
program, however, will not cover the costs of ensuring that homes are 
cool enough in the hot weather, warm enough in the cold weather, or dry 
enough in any season. The formula for calculating the value of 
investments in homes must reflect the expected impact on the safety of 
participants and their homes under anticipated weather conditions, and 
the impact on their health and of adapting their energy system to meet 
future requirements. The current program cost limits mean that 
switching a home to a cleaner fuel mix is rarely possible. The same 
limits impede the integration of apprentice workers and other trainees 
into the program.
  Therefore, the Secretary must ensure that the regulations for this 
Program achieve the statutory goals of permitting a combination of deep 
retrofit measures sufficient to keep participants safe from extreme 
weather conditions, minimize the greenhouse gas emissions from their 
homes, and ensure health conditions in weatherized homes.
  The Secretary should establish the appropriate costs for an average 
package of retrofits that delivers retrofits of sufficient scale to 
produce safe, healthy, and efficient homes with the cleanest possible 
fuel mix, and to adjust applicable regulations to support this mission, 
particularly by ensuring the costs attributed to a home are no more 
than the costs of services provided directly to that home.

[[Page E1078]]

  The Secretary should also simplify and streamline the procedures for 
delivering Weatherization investments, including the procedures for 
retrofitting entire multi-family buildings and the regulations 
regarding combination of Weatherization and funding available from 
other public or private sources for the same general purposes.

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