[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15863]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 LIHEAP

  (Mrs. McCARTHY of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, last winter our Nation 
experienced record high heating bills, and this summer's cooling bills 
are expected to follow suit. LIHEAP is authorized at $5.1 billion, and 
the program has never been fully funded. Concerns are high across the 
Nation that LIHEAP will not be able to help those people that need the 
most help because it is set to run out of money before the most intense 
periods of the heating and cooling seasons start.
  Congress and the President can act by fully funding LIHEAP through 
authorizing the spending of $3.12 billion in the second economic 
stimulus package. With this action, Congress and the President would 
send a clear message to the Nation: We do care about those that are 
most vulnerable. LIHEAP works not only to protect our Nation's 
vulnerable, low-income populations but also to stimulate the economy so 
that those families can spend money more fully for other things.
  Fully funding LIHEAP should be a top priority for this Congress, and 
we should fully fund the program in the second stimulus package. We 
have an opportunity to help those that are having a hard time to get by 
during these times.

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