OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Letter to President of the United States of America George W. Bush

Date: Aug. 3, 2006
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income


August 3, 2006

The President

The White House

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to urge you to release all remaining contingency funds to help provide cooling assistance to low-income families this summer.

According to NOAA meteorologists, an unusually strong ridge of high pressure that has been persistent for the last several weeks across much of the central and eastern U.S. is causing record high temperatures this summer. More than 50 new all-time high temperature records were established in the central and western U.S. during the last two weeks. The persistence of the unusually hot temperatures has made the past month one of the warmest since records began in 1895 for the contiguous U.S., according to NOAA.

These searing temperatures, combined with record high electricity prices across the country, are putting many low-income families at risk for heat-related illnesses because they cannot afford the cost of electricity to cool their homes.

Many low-income families do not have adequate resources to pay their energy bills this summer. LIHEAP can provide life-saving assistance to provide air-conditioning and fans to the elderly and disabled.

Public health studies have documented that summer heat and heat waves can worsen cardiovascular disease (ischemic heart disease), increasing the risk of death from heart attack or stroke and increase the risk of death from pneumonia and other ailments for those with respiratory disease. Summer heat can also lead to hospitalization for those with pre-existing kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and epilepsy. Indeed, the current heat wave sweeping the country has resulted in more than 160 deaths in California alone. These conditions can be mitigated by access to cooling during the summer months.

Your release of all remaining contingency funds to help provide cooling assistance is imperative to help in the effort to safeguard the health-and the lives-of low-income families across the nation.

Sincerely,

Jack Reed

Susan M. Collins

http://reed.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=261226&&

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