Hearing of the Senate Finance Committee - The President's FY2013 Budget Proposals

Statement

U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, today questioned U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius at a committee hearing on President Obama's Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget proposal, released yesterday. Senator Snowe emphasized the dire need to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which in the new budget proposal suffered an additional $452 million dollar reduction from FY12 levels.

Senator Snowe said:

"As I told Secretary Sebelius today, the fact is that since this Administration took office, LIHEAP assistance has fallen from $5.1 billion in 2009 to this year's level of $3.47 billion, and now the President's budget is proposing an additional $500 million cut. While I certainly appreciate that the President finally recognized the fact that cold-weather states like Maine have been disproportionately affected by his draconian LIHEAP cuts, the Administration has nonetheless still failed to develop a budget proposal that is commensurate to the unprecedented challenge presented by winter. In fact, requesting yet another half-a-billion dollar cut from this indispensible program only adds insult to injury for the millions of Mainers and Americans struggling with the consequences of oil that costs more than $100 per barrel -- a record high for this time of year.

"I have traveled across Maine and heard from countless families across Maine who are bearing the brunt of this cut and are taking desperate measures simply to avoid the bitter cold. Indeed, I have led the effort in Congress to provide increased funding to LIHEAP and will continue to fight for adequate funding of this program as I have done my entire Congressional career. But, the fact remains that this budget should have reflected the incredible hardship people are enduring."

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