[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15224]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 LIHEAP

  (Mr. OLVER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, to significantly lower gas prices at the 
pump, Congress must end rampant speculation in crude oil futures, yet 
our Republican colleagues in both branches have consistently opposed 
such legislation. Meanwhile, a whole new crisis looms as families face 
a price approaching $5 per gallon for heating oil for their homes. 
That's twice last winter's price.
  Last winter in Massachusetts and New England alone, 350,000 low-
income families used the LIHEAP program to get by, yet only one in four 
of the families eligible by income use the program. Many of those 
already eligible families will be in desperate need of help this 
winter, and many more middle-income families' budgets will be severely 
stressed by the doubled price of home heating oil.
  Heat for a home or an apartment is not optional for any family, and 
Congress must act on an historic investment in LIHEAP before we finish 
our session.

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