[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21030-21032]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, headlines across the Nation warn of an 
impending disaster facing American families this winter--rising energy 
prices that could wipe out working-class families

[[Page 21031]]

and seniors. The New York Times reports:
       Energy Prices Lead Inflation, Overcoming Salary Increases.

  The Wall Street Journal states:

       Soaring Natural-Gas Prices Point to Record-High Electricity 
     Costs.

  USA Today states:

       Heating Prices Loom as Problems this Winter.

  Prior to Hurricane Katrina's devastation in the gulf region, 
Americans were facing record prices for oil, natural gas, and propane. 
Hurricane Katrina exacerbated these costs by damaging production 
platforms and ports and curtailing production at refineries in the Gulf 
of Mexico. Now Hurricane Rita threatens further damage and, in turn, 
price increases. Natural gas prices are hitting all-time highs, and 
crude oil and gasoline prices are again on the rise.
  Consumers are feeling the price increases at the pump. But with 
winter looming, the full effect of these costs has yet to hit us.
  In New England, the average heating cost for a family using heating 
oil is projected to reach $1,666 during the upcoming winter. This 
represents an increase of $403 over last winter's prices and $714 over 
the winter heating season of 2003-2004, almost a $1,000 increase in 2 
years.
  For a family using natural gas in the Midwest, prices are projected 
to hit $1,568, representing an increase of $611 over last year's prices 
and $643 over the heating season of 2003-2004. The Mortgage Bankers 
Association expects steep energy costs could increase the number of 
missed payments and lost homes beginning later this year.
  Yesterday, the State energy directors released a survey about the 
choices that LIHEAP households make when they face unaffordable energy 
bills. Of course, LIHEAP is the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program 
that we have authored and supported for many years in Congress. LIHEAP 
assists low-income Americans and seniors to ensure they can face these 
prices.
  According to the survey by the State energy directors, 73 percent of 
the households surveyed reported they reduce expenses for other 
necessities because they do not have enough money to pay for their 
energy bills. These other necessities are food, prescription drugs, 
rent, or mortgage payments. In fact, one in five LIHEAP households 
reported they went without food at least 1 day over the last 5 years 
due to unaffordable energy bills. Twenty-four percent used their stove 
or oven to provide heat because they could not fill the tanks to 
provide heat.
  On Monday, I visited the home of Aram Ohanian, an 88-year-old veteran 
who lives in Rhode Island and whose monthly income consists of $779 in 
Social Security payments. Money is so tight that Mr. Ohanian sometimes 
eats at his daughter's house or goes to a local soup kitchen for food. 
He also gets help from a local food bank. Last year, Mr. Ohanian 
received a total of $600 in LIHEAP grants to help him keep his home 
safe and warm. But even with that assistance, he had to close off parts 
of his house to reduce energy costs.
  In communities throughout this Nation, Mr. Ohanian's story repeats 
itself. The warning has been issued. We know that prices for energy 
products are on the rise. We can all foretell the next disaster facing 
American families. The question is, What will we do to protect these 
Americans from this upcoming energy storm?
  We saw the most vulnerable Americans overwhelmed by rising waters in 
New Orleans. If we do nothing, we can see other vulnerable Americans 
overwhelmed by rising energy prices this winter.
  First, Senator Collins and I, joined by 39 colleagues, are calling on 
the President and Congress to support $1.3 billion in emergency LIHEAP 
funding in the comprehensive supplemental appropriations package for 
Hurricane Katrina. This funding will provide our Nation's most 
vulnerable low-income families, seniors, and disabled individuals with 
affordable energy this winter. This is the additional funding--let me 
stress additional funding--needed for LIHEAP to maintain the purchasing 
power it had last year. This money is on top of the $3 billion we are 
seeking for the LIHEAP State grant program in the fiscal year 2006 
Labor-HHS appropriations bill; the regular LIHEAP funding, if you will.
  States are bracing for a crisis caused by the lack of affordable 
energy, and this funding will ensure low-income families and seniors 
have warm homes this winter.
  Last year, a Rhode Islander receiving $400 in LIHEAP funds could buy 
approximately 235 gallons of heating oil, almost a full tank. At $2.60 
a gallon, $400 will only buy about 150 gallons of oil, a little over 
half a tank, which might only last about 2\1/2\ weeks. And, indeed, the 
$2.60 price in Rhode Island is a hard price to find now from oil 
dealers.
  Rhode Island's LIHEAP program estimates the State needs $21 million 
to serve the 27,000 households it helped last year. I urge all of my 
colleagues to join Senator Collins and me to support our efforts to 
secure $4.3 billion for LIHEAP funding this winter.
  Second, we need to invest in energy efficiency. The Weatherization 
Assistance Program is vital to these efforts. The Weatherization 
Assistance Program has weatherized 5.3 million homes in the United 
States during its history, including 30,500 in my State of Rhode 
Island. The program, on average, saves families $274 per year and 
reduces heating bills by 31 percent. Rhode Island's program alone has 
saved the United States an equivalent of 43 days' worth of oil 
consumption, or an equivalent of 81 days of gas consumption over the 
course of the life of this program.
  Now is the time to expand this and other energy efficiency programs 
to serve these families. This is one of those programs that benefits 
not only individuals of the family by keeping them warm, by saving them 
money, but collectively benefits this country because one of our great 
problems is our accelerating demand for energy which drives up prices. 
If we can control that demand, if we can be more efficient in the use 
of energy, we can go a long way to help moderate the prices of energy 
that we face.
  In America--one of the wealthiest nations in the world--no family 
should have to choose between heating their home and putting food on 
the table for their child. No senior citizen should have to decide to 
either buy lifesaving prescription drugs or pay their electric bill. 
But, unfortunately, our Nation's most vulnerable households--working 
families, seniors living on fixed incomes, and disabled individuals--
have to make those very choices.
  Third, we need to pass Senator Cantwell's Energy Emergency Consumer 
Protection Act, of which I am a cosponsor. The legislation would ban 
price gouging at the gas pump in the wake of natural disasters, such as 
Hurricane Katrina, and would empower Federal regulators to ensure 
greater market transparency and go after market manipulation of oil and 
gas prices on an everyday basis.
  The administration also must begin to rethink its bankrupt energy 
policies. Reliable, affordable energy is critical to the social and 
economic well-being of our Nation. Total energy spending for the Nation 
this year will approach $1 trillion, 24 percent higher than in 2004. 
Energy will claim the biggest share of U.S. output since the end of the 
oil crisis 20 years ago. This is not good energy policy.
  Americans deserve a better energy bill than the one President Bush 
signed this summer. They deserve an energy bill that raises fuel 
efficiency standards and provides for oil savings, an energy bill that 
invests valuable tax dollars--those currently being handed out 
unnecessarily to oil and gas companies--into the development of 
renewable fuels and energy efficiency.
  Oil and natural gas companies are making record profits while energy 
prices are overcoming workers' salary increases. These companies do not 
need billions of dollars from the Federal Treasury.
  The American public deserves greater accountability to ensure oil 
companies are not engaging in anticompetitive behavior, such as closing 
down refining capacity to drive up prices.
  Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the economic, social, and racial 
divides

[[Page 21032]]

that exist in America. As a nation, we must step back and reevaluate 
our priorities. Now is not the time to cut funding for or underfund 
social programs, such as LIHEAP, Medicaid, and food stamps, that 
support working families and seniors while the President proposes tax 
breaks for casinos, as the Washington Post reported this morning. We 
must prioritize, and the most vulnerable amongst us must be considered 
first.
  Hurricane Katrina upset the lives of millions, displacing families 
from their homes and inflicting severe economic damage. The people of 
the gulf region deserve our continued support as they rebuild, and as 
Hurricane Rita threatens the gulf coast of Texas, we must also be 
prepared to help those Americans affected in its wake.
  We cannot, however, forget the millions of Americans who struggle 
each day to make ends meet. They also deserve our support. I hope the 
President and the Congress will heed this warning and help build an 
energy safety net for all Americans beginning with adequate funding for 
LIHEAP, increasing investment in weatherization, passing sensible 
legislation such as the Cantwell bill, and revisiting our overall 
energy policy to make a stronger, more fair, and a more decent place 
for all of us.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor. I note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Minnesota is recognized.
  Mr. DAYTON. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Dayton pertaining to the introduction of S. 1756 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, 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. OBAMA. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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