Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (Senate - October 19, 2005)
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Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today for one very simple reason, the days are relentlessly marching toward winter ..... the clock is ticking as the thermometer edges ever downward ..... and it would be unconscionable for Congress to adjourn for the year without providing critical, additional assistance for LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, at a time of skyrocketing fuel prices.
There should be no mistake, this is an emergency and a crisis we know is coming, and it would be an abrogation of our responsibility to stand by and allow it to occur. It does not take a crystal ball to predict the dire consequences when home heating oil in Maine is $2.52 per gallon, up 59 cents from a year ago ..... kerosene prices average $2.95 a gallon, 75 cents higher than this time last year, and it is not even winter yet. Some projections have a gallon of heating oil reaching $3.00.
So understandably, we are already hearing the mounting concern ``how will I pay for home heating oil when it's 30 percent more than last year, and I struggled to make ends meet then?'' ``How will I afford to pay half again as much for natural gas?'' People need to know now that they can count on us for assistance.
This is a necessity of life--so much so that 73 percent of households in a recent survey reported they would cut back on, and even go without, other necessities such as food, prescription drugs, and mortgage and rent payments. Churches, food pantries, local service organizations--they are all hearing the cry, and all the leaves aren't even yet off of the trees. The fact is, countless American's don't have room in their budget, many on fixed incomes, for this sudden surge in home heating prices but surely, in looking at our national priorities, we can find room in our budget to help Americans stay warm this winter.
Because of the supply disruptions caused by the hurricanes at a time when prices were already spiraling up, prices have been driven even higher and are directly affecting low income Mainers and how they will be able to pay for their home heating oil, propane and kerosene this winter. A recent Wall Street Journal quoted Jo-Ann Choate, who heads up Maine's LIHEAP program. Ms. Choate said, ``This year we've got a very good chance of running out.'' Eighty-four percent of the applicants for the LIHEAP program in the State use oil heat. Over 46,000 applied for and received State LIHEAP funds last winter. Each household received $480, which covered the cost of 275 gallons of heating oil.
The problem this winter is that the same $480 will buy only 172 gallons, which a household will use up in the first 3 to 4 weeks in Maine. What will these people do to stay warm for the four or five months left of winter? The water pipes will freeze and then break, damaging homes. People will start using their stoves to get heat. The Mortgage Bankers Association expects that the steep energy costs could increase the number of missed payments and lost homes beginning later this year. My State is expecting at least 48,000 applicants this winter, so there will be less money distributed to each household unless we can obtain higher funding for the LIHEAP program.
Ms. Choate says that Maine plans to focus on the elderly, disabled, and families with small children, and is studying how to move others to heated shelters. This is why our efforts are so very important. And it isn't just Maine, it is happening in all of the Nation's cold weather States. Quite simply, without increased funding, we are forcing the managers of State LIHEAP programs to make a Solomon's choice. I request that the Wall Street Journal article of October 6, 2005 be printed for the RECORD.
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