Senator Collins Discusses LIHEAP Program

Ms. COLLINS. I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, Senator JACK REED and I have offered an amendment that provides for the immediate release of $300 million in funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP.

I thank the chair and ranking member of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, Senators SPECTER and HARKIN, for their efforts in support of this critical program. Despite the extremely difficult fiscal constraints facing our Nation, Senators SPECTER and HARKIN have managed to provide $1.7 billion in regular-year LIHEAP funds in the Omnibus Appropriations Act. This is $300 million more than the administration's request.

Unfortunately, while the bill before us provides more regular LIHEAP funds than the administration requested, the total funding, which includes both regular funding and emergency funding, is considerably less than was provided in fiscal year 2002. In fact, total LIHEAP funding in this bill falls $300 million below the total funding provided in fiscal year 2002. It is also $300 million below the total funds provided in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill which passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 18, 2002, by a vote of 29 to 0.

Mr. President, the amendment that Senator Reed of Rhode Island and I have offered would provide for the immediate release of an additional $300 million for low-income heating assistance by designating emergency funds provided in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2001 as regular-year funds for fiscal year 2003.

For that reason, our amendment is fiscally responsible. Because these funds were already made available, our amendment does not increase total spending in the omnibus appropriations bill. These are funds that were already approved. The effect of our amendment is for this $300 million to be released immediately.

Some might argue that these funds should not be released unless the President declares an emergency. Anyone who thinks that we don't currently have an emergency in home heating assistance should visit with a low-income family in Houlton, ME. Houlton recently experienced the coldest temperature of any place in the lower 48 States. A few days ago, temperatures in Houlton were 19 degrees below zero. Tonight, the forecast, with windchill, is for the temperature range to be from 20 to 40 below in some parts of my home State. When the temperature is that cold, and you do not have money in your budget to heat your home, that is an emergency.

Adding to the problem of exceptionally cold winter weather, energy prices have escalated dramatically. The cessation of oil exports from Venezuela, as well as the prospect of a war in the Middle East, have pushed the price of crude oil up by nearly $6 per barrel in the last month. Home heating oil inventories are near 5-year lows, and prices are 20 percent higher than last winter. The Energy Information Administration predicts that home heating oil prices could rise 45 percent by the time winter is over. The price of natural gas, kerosene, and other fuels are facing similar pressures.

In addition to a cold winter and high energy prices, we are also facing difficult economic times. Unemployment has reached an 8-year high. In Maine, as in many States, low-income and unemployed workers are struggling. Just last week, Great Northern Paper, the largest employer in northern Maine, filed for bankruptcy and laid off its workforce of more than 1,000 employees.

In short, we are facing a "perfect storm" of high energy prices, exceedingly cold weather, and a difficult economy. With little prospect for a quick resolution of the crises in Iraq and Venezuela, continued forecasts for a cold winter, and the dubious prospects for a very quick economic rebound, all of us living in cold weather climates will face challenges in order to heat our homes this winter.

This combination of factors strains everyone's pocketbook, but, of course, it places a particular burden on seniors living on limited incomes and on our low-income families. These families already carry a higher energy burden than most Americans. They can spend up to 20 or 25 percent of their entire income just paying their home energy bills. No one should have to choose between heating their homes or putting food on the table, having prescriptions in the medicine cabinet, or even staying in their homes altogether.

Experience has shown, however, that pressures to pay energy bills and the inability to pay have resulted in increased medical expenses for our elderly, malnutrition for our children, and even homelessness. As an indicator of just how difficult this winter has been in my home State, let me tell you that 10,000 more people in Maine have applied for low-income heating assistance this year compared to last year.

Unfortunately, even as the need has increased, the amount of assistance has declined. In Maine, the average household benefit has seen a steady decline over the last four winters. In the winter of 1999 to 2000, the average LIHEAP benefit for a Maine family was $491. The next year, it had fallen to $433. By last winter, the number had further declined to $358. Fortunately, with the approval of the Reed-Collins amendment, we can reverse this decline or at least ensure that more Maine families will be helped; otherwise, low-income Maine families struggling to heat their homes will only receive between $330 and $350 this winter, not nearly enough to help.

I would like to say a word about the history of the LIHEAP funds that our amendment addresses. The Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2001 provided an extra $300 million in LIHEAP funds in order to help low income families deal with high energy prices. Report language specifically directed that at least $150 million of these funds were to be used to address unmet needs resulting from high energy prices. The other half of the money was directed to be used to meet the most critical needs arising from energy cost increases and increases in unemployment, among other things.

I have been working for the better part of 2 years to secure the release of these funds. On August 13, 2001, I joined Senator REED, Senator KENNEDY, and a number of my colleagues in sending a letter to the President requesting the release of the very same $300 million in emergency funds from the fiscal year 2001 supplemental appropriations bill. On September 10, 2001, I again joined many of my colleagues in sending a letter to OMB director Mitch Daniels requesting the immediate release of these funds. On October 26, 2001, 17 Senators joined Senator REED and me in a letter to the Senate Minority and Majority leader requesting legislative language to require the release of these funds. On October 30, 2001, I offered an amendment to the fiscal year 2002 Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill expressing the sense of the Senate that these funds should be released immediately. That amendment was supported by Senators SPECTER and HARKIN and passed the Senate as part of the fiscal year 2002 Labor-HHS bill.

On February 12, 2002, I joined my colleague Senator SNOWE in sending a letter to the President again requesting the release of these same funds. On September 23, 2002, Senator REED and I were joined by Senator SPECTER, Senator HARKIN, and 35 of our colleagues in a letter to the President requesting the release of $200 million in emergency funds that were made available as part of the fiscal year 2002 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill. These funds expired without ever being spent. Finally, on December 23, 2002, half of our colleagues joined Senator REED and me in sending a letter to the administration requesting a total of $2 billion in fiscal year 2003 funding—which is the same amount made available by combining the $300 million in my amendment with the $1.7 billion already in the bill.

The LIHEAP program is essential in helping many low-income families get through the winter months. This has been an unusually cold winter. This has been a year where home heating prices have soared. This has been a year where the economy has been difficult. The combination of those three factors calls out for us to provide this additional assistance.

I am very pleased that our colleagues have joined together with an overwhelming vote. I hope very much this provision will be retained in the final conference report.

Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time.