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

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Ms. CANTWELL. Thank you.

AMENDMENT NO. 2077

Madam President, I do rise to support the Reed-Collins amendment to further make a down payment on the low-income energy assistance program known as LIHEAP.

This is a program the State of Washington knows all too well. I say that because our State was hard hit by an energy crisis in the last several years that left many low-income people suffering the consequences of high energy costs. If anything, the Northwest is a poster child for what is about to happen to the rest of the country. Those results were devastating. In one county alone, Snohomish County, where I live, we had a 44-percent increase in disconnect rates in 1 year. That meant 14,000 people lost power to their homes because of high energy costs.

Those high energy costs were also passed on to school districts, which had to choose between hiring teachers and getting books and paying the high cost of energy. It also had an impact on economic development. Businesses decided that perhaps they did not want to move to that county if they were energy-intensive users and businesses on low margins until the energy rates come down again. We saw people who actually lost their jobs and lost their pensions because of those high energy costs.

What this amendment does, added to this bill, is to give the consumers in America who are the most hard hit by energy costs some relief. If you think about it, we are talking about the elderly, the disabled, those who are on low incomes. We are talking about an individual who may make less than $12,000 a year or a couple who may make less than $16,000 a year. Now they are faced with anywhere from a 30- to 50-percent increase in energy costs. It is a question as to whether they are going to be able to keep the lights on and the heat in the home or whether they are going to be left out in the cold by this administration and by this Congress.

I hope my colleagues will do the right thing in adopting the Reed-Collins amendment and being serious about LIHEAP, knowing the devastating consequences of the high cost of energy to our economy and people on the margins. It is heartless to think we would continue to adopt resolution after resolution dealing with other impacts to our economy and leave those most vulnerable out in the cold.

The LIHEAP Program serves a very small percentage of the people who actually qualify. Last year, 72,000 Washington State residents received assistance from the LIHEAP Program, but many more could actually qualify. That is, there are many more who are living on the margins who need that kind of help and assistance to stay in their home.

Last week, I met with a woman who has lung cancer, the mother of five, who is disabled, who needs the LIHEAP Program to continue to remain in her home. Yet 76 percent of those who qualify who will not get aid. This piece of legislation will not help all of them, but it will help a small percent. It will help a small percent of Northwest residents who will be battling the high cost of energy again for another year in a row, to get some assistance from the low-energy income program.

This amendment should be a top priority for the Members of this body. I say that because, having fought to get these LIHEAP Programs from the contingency fund in the past when my State was greatly impacted, I know how important it was to the residents who actually received them. Now the rest of the country is going to be impacted by those same dynamics of very high energy costs. The question is whether we will, as a body, approve the Reed-Collins amendment to actually take the appropriations level up to the level that has been in the authorizing bill. I think it is the prudent thing to do. I think it is the wise thing to do to help the residents of this country, who are going to suffer from a very tough winter and high energy costs.

I, like my colleague Senator Reed, want to fight for other legislation that will help us reduce the high cost of energy and certainly look at the practices of predatory pricing. We need to give consumers the confidence that there is competition in the marketplace, that there are Federal agencies that will protect consumers from price gouging, and that those who participate in price-gouging activities will spend time in jail. But in the meantime, as we are continuing to push and fight for that legislation, we need to make sure those who are most vulnerable in our society get the help and support they deserve. So I hope my colleagues will take the Reed-Collins amendment this afternoon and realize we cannot give tax breaks to others and leave those most vulnerable in our society without the hope of a warm, secure winter.

America can do better. We can take care of the elderly, the disabled, and the low income when it means they are going to have to pay exorbitant energy costs.

I yield the floor.

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