LIHEAP

Floor Speech

LIHEAP -- (Senate - July 17, 2008)

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I understand that there are a lot of differences in this body on the issue of speculation, which presumably is going to come up next week, on the issue of the role of the large oil companies and the enormous profits they are making, and there are differences of opinion about how fast and how aggressively we should go to sustainable energy and energy efficiency. But in one area, it appears to me there is less and less of a difference of opinion, and that is that more and more Members of the Senate understand that we are facing--right now, this summer, and in this coming winter--an energy crisis in terms of people going cold and perhaps freezing or dying from heat exhaustion this summer.

I am very proud to say that we have had tripartisan support for a very substantial increase in the LIHEAP legislation bill I have offered; that is, S. 3186, the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act. That bill now has 47 cosponsors--34 Democrats, 11 Republicans, and 2 independents. At a time when more and more Americans are concerned about the partisanship here in Congress, I am happy to say that this bill has very strong tripartisan support.

I wish to thank the 34 Democrats who are cosponsors, including Senator Obama, Majority Leader Reid, and Senators Durbin, Murray, Landrieu, Leahy, Clinton, Cantwell, Jack Reed, Kerry, Kennedy, Schumer, Levin, Cardin, Brown, Klobuchar, Menendez, Casey, Bingaman, Lautenberg, Stabenow, Bill Nelson, Baucus, Salazar, Wyden, Whitehouse, Rockefeller, Dodd, Tester, Mikulski, Biden, Kohl, Dorgan, and McCaskill. I thank all those Democrats for their support, and the 11 Republican cosponsors we have, including Senators Snowe, Stevens, Coleman, Smith, Sununu, Collins, Murkowski, Gregg, Lugar, Bond, and Dole. I also thank the Independent, Senator Lieberman, for joining me as a cosponsor. Both Independents are on that bill.

Let me also thank Majority Leader Reid for completing the rule XIV process and putting this bill directly on the calendar. Senator Reid understands, as I think most of us do, that this bill has very strong support. For the health and well-being of many millions of people, whether in the Northeast or in the South, it is absolutely imperative that we pass this legislation as soon as possible.

In that regard, I want to express disappointment that just this morning, my Republican friend, Senator Cornyn, objected to a UC for passage of this bill and then objected to putting this bill on the floor and even giving us the opportunity to vote on it today. I hope my Republican friends and the Republican leadership reconsider this action because the truth is, there is a lot of support on the Republican side for increasing LIHEAP. I think it is imperative that we work together and we work as quickly as possible and we take a very strong load of anxiety off the shoulders of people from all over this country by passing this bill and getting a similar bill passed in the House.

This tripartisan bill would nearly double the funding for LIHEAP in fiscal year 2008, taking it from $2.57 billion to $5.1 billion. That is a total increase of over $2.5 billion. This, in fact, is the amount at which LIHEAP is authorized. We should make no mistake about it, the issue we are dealing with is a life-and-death issue. It is life and death today, and it will be life and death next winter.

I would like to report a statistic that is not widely known. When CNN gets its cameras out, they go to the tornadoes and the floods and the forest fires, and that is appropriate. Those are terrible tragedies we are all concerned about. The truth is that more people in this country have died from the extreme heat and hypothermia since 1998 than all natural disasters combined. That is an interesting point, and you probably didn't know that. I didn't know that. But that is the case. And that includes floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes.

The ``problem'' is what happens when maybe an old person in Florida can't afford electricity and has her air-conditioning turned off. She will die. Or a person with an illness in the State of Vermont, when the weather gets 20 below zero and he doesn't have the money to heat his home, he will die as well. And people die one at a time, not in great CNN-type disasters, but the reality is that more people die from extreme heat and extreme cold than they do from other types of emergencies.

In Vermont and throughout New England, people are extremely worried that they will not have enough money to afford the price of heating oil next winter. A newspaper in my State of Vermont, the Stowe Reporter, recently editorialized that the lack of affordable heating oil could turn into New England's version of Hurricane Katrina next winter. We cannot allow that to happen.

The problem is not just in the Northeast. The point I have to reiterate over and over, this is not just a cold weather problem for my State of Vermont and New England. This is a hot weather problem as well. It is not just a cold weather issue, it is a hot weather issue as well.

Over the past decade, more than 400 people died of heat exposure in Arizona. Let me repeat that. Over the past decade, more than 400 people died of heat exposure in Arizona, including 31 in July of 2005 alone, 31 people in 2005 in Arizona. All of these deaths could have been prevented if these people had air-conditioning.

Without increased support from the Federal Government, Arizona will be out of LIHEAP funding before the end of this month. But if this bill passes, Arizona will see an infusion of $24 million in LIHEAP funding, triple what they currently receive.

Let me quote a letter I received from the mayor of Phoenix, AZ. His name is Phil Gordon. I thank Mayor Gordon for sending me this letter. He is strongly supportive of this legislation. This is what the mayor of Phoenix, AZ, Phil Gordon, writes:

I am writing to express my support for the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act. Currently Arizona can only provide assistance to 6 percent of eligible LIHEAP households. ..... To make matters worse, Phoenix continues to experience extreme heat. In the past month alone, we have had 15 days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees. This extreme heat is especially hard on the very young, the elderly and disabled who are on fixed incomes and can no longer afford to cool their homes. ..... Arizona Public Service reported that there was a 36 percent increase in the number of households having difficulty in paying utility bills and an increase of 11,000 families being disconnected compared to a year ago. Rising energy and housing costs are placing enormous strains on low-income households across Arizona.

What Mayor Gordon of Phoenix is talking about is taking place all over this country. We are in the middle of a recession. People are losing their work. Wages are going down. The price of fuel in general is going up. That includes electricity. If you are dependent on electricity for air-conditioning, and your electricity gets shut off and you are old and you are sick, you have a serious problem. That is what this legislation is going to address.

In my State of Vermont and throughout New England and the Northeast, people are extremely worried that they will not have enough money to afford the price of heating oil next winter.

A newspaper in my State of Vermont, the Stowe Reporter, recently editorialized that the lack of affordable heating oil could turn into New England's version of Hurricane Katrina next winter. We cannot allow that to happen.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, over 1,000 Americans from across the country died from hypothermia in their own homes from 1999 to 2002, the latest figures we have available. In other words, they froze to death because they could not afford to heat their homes. How many of these deaths were preventable? All of them, according to the CDC. We will probably not know for several years how many Americans died last winter because they could not afford to heat their homes--but one death is too many.

And, I want all of my colleagues to understand. This home energy crisis that we are in extends far beyond New England and the Northeast. Today, people in the South and Southwest are struggling to pay for the skyrocketing price of electricity, which has tripled in some parts of the country.

The result is that essential utility services are being cut-off because they cannot afford to pay their bills. What that means is that elderly, frail and sick people trying to stay alive in 110 degree temperatures face a major health crisis if their electricity is shut off.

In other words, whether you are living in the north or the south or the east or the west, our country is facing a national emergency and it is about time that the President of the United States and the Congress treated it as such.

And, while energy prices are soaring, LIHEAP funding is 23 percent less than it was just 2 years ago, completely eviscerating the purchasing power of this extremely important program. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, the Federal Government spent more money on LIHEAP 20 years ago than it is spending today.

To demonstrate how important LIHEAP is right now for southern States dealing with a major heat wave, I want to give you just a few examples of what I am referring to.

Over the past decade, more than 400 people died of heat exposure in Arizona, including 31 in July of 2005 alone. All of these deaths could have been prevented if these people had air conditioning. Without increased support from the Federal Government, Arizona will be out of LIHEAP funding before the end of this month. But, if this bill passes, Arizona will receive an infusion of over $24 million in LIHEAP funding--triple what they currently receive--to keep their residents cool this summer.

Due to a lack of LIHEAP funding, the State of Texas only provides air conditioning assistance to about 4 percent of those who qualify. Recently, I received a letter from Shawnee Bayer from the Community Action Committee in Victoria, TX. In her letter, Ms. Bayer writes:

The temperatures in our area have been 100 to 110 degrees for 16 consecutive days. I fear it is going to be very tragic at the current pace we are going with so little LIHEAP funding available..... . There are so many who need our assistance, like the elderly lady in her 80s who recently almost died due to kidney failure; now she doesn't want to use her air conditioner because she is afraid she won't be able to pay the bill. ..... She just called me last Thursday and has pneumonia; she could hardly talk. ..... Last year she was placed in the hospital in the ICU due to a heat stroke as a result of using only a fan, not the air conditioner. I see children every day who have not eaten because the parents, grandparents and in some cases great grandparents are just trying to keep the electricity on . ..... the electric bills in our area have tripled.

That is in Victoria, TX. In addition, I also received an e-mail from DeAndra Baker from the Community Action Agency in Giddings, TX, who said:

We have a gentleman who is 78 years old and on a fixed income of $770.00 a month. ..... Due to the extremely high temperatures he is unable to afford to keep his home cool. His doctor provided a statement that he must have his air conditioner turned on at a minimum of 80 degrees to avoid congestive heart failure and he is not even able to afford that much. Sadly, he will not continue to run his A/C or fans and will be at serious risk unless LIHEAP funding is increased soon.

That is what is going on in the State of Texas. If this bill is signed into law, Texas will receive over $47 million to help keep their residents cool this summer. But it is not just Texas.

Without additional support from the Federal Government, the State of Georgia will not be able to offer any LIHEAP assistance whatsoever to its residents this summer. Currently, Georgia has a waiting list of 28,000 people hoping to receive some relief from the hot weather this summer. To demonstrate the desperate need for more LIHEAP funding, let me tell you about an e-mail my office received from the executive director of the Community Action Agency in Gainesville, GA, Janice Riley. According to Ms. Riley, their agency has been out of LIHEAP funding since last December. She was particularly distressed about two families in Georgia who she could not help because of a lack of LIHEAP funding. This is what she had to say:

One family that came in after we ran out of LIHEAP funds was the Jones family. ..... Mr. Jones, came to our office requesting assistance with his electric bill. He has a wife and five children. ..... They got behind with all their bills when he was injured on the job six months ago. ..... Their daughter is paralyzed from the neck down from a fall she had at six months of age. I wish we could help them. Another participant that did not receive LIHEAP funds and is now facing disconnection or homelessness is Ms. O'Brien, a 33 year old, single parent with 5 children between the ages of 7-16, and a newborn grandchild which she has taken in. ..... Her power was turned off last week because she was unable to pay it. ..... Her need for assistance is based on the high costs of living, not from her lack of work ethic and heroic efforts to maintain her household.

That is what is going on in the State of Georgia. If this bill is signed into law, the State of Georgia would receive over $70 million to make sure their residents stay cool this summer.

In addition, unless S. 3186 is signed into law soon, the State of Kentucky will not be able to keep any of their residents cool this summer through the LIHEAP program. According to the executive director of the Community Action Agency in Kentucky, Kip Bowmar:

February of 2008 marked the first time in the program's history that all 120 Counties in Kentucky ran out of LIHEAP funds, forcing us to close our doors as fuel prices were soaring and people needed help.

If S. 3186 is signed into law, the State of Kentucky will receive nearly $35 million to keep their residents cool this summer and warm in the winter.

In Florida, Hilda Frazier, the State director of the LIHEAP program, has estimated that they will serve 26,000 fewer households this year because of the reduction of available LIHEAP funding and the rising cost of energy. According to Ms. Frazier, thousands of families in Florida are being turned away from LIHEAP offices each and every month because they do not have any money. Of the 2 million LIHEAP eligible households in Florida, they will be able to assist fewer than 4 percent of them.

The State of Arkansas is also rapidly running out of LIHEAP funding. The LlHEAP coordinator in Benton, AR, recently had to deny assistance to over 430 families there because they had no money. If this bill is signed into law, Arkansas would receive nearly $26 million to help keep their residents cool this summer.

Moving on to California, Joan Graham, The deputy director of the Community Action Agency in Sacramento, CA, recently wrote that:

Every day, we are turning away at least 50 families who qualify for LIHEAP because we lack resources. Energy bills have increased 30% over last year, yet our funding has not increased. In 2006, there were 29 heat-related deaths in Sacramento County. One senior who passed away due to extreme heat was afraid to turn on his air conditioner because he knew he would be unable to pay the electric bill. We know there are more like him out there at present.

If this bill is signed into law, California will receive over $100 million to keep their residents cool this summer and warm next winter.

Why is LIHEAP so important in the south in the summertime?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the annual mortality rate from extreme heat in the U.S. has exceeded the death tolls of floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined since 1998. Meanwhile, fewer resources have been allocated to heat-related problems than to other extreme weather events.

In other words, while more people in this country are dying from heat exposure than any other natural disaster in this country combined; the Federal Government spends less money preventing these deaths from occurring than any other natural disaster we face.

From 1999-2003, over 3,400 deaths in this country were due to excessive heat. All of these deaths were preventable and air conditioning is the best way to prevent these deaths, according to the CDC.

How many more heat-related deaths will occur in this country if we do not increase LIHEAP? We cannot wait to find out.

My heart goes out to the people of Iowa and other areas in the Midwest that have been devastated by the recent flooding. I supported the additional Federal resources that were included in the supplemental to help them through this difficult time.

But, let us not forget about senior citizens who will die of heat exposure if we don't help them out this summer. And, let's not wait until it's too late to provide the assistance needed to keep Americans warm in the north this winter.

In addition to these facts, tens of thousands of Americans have had their utility and natural gas services shut off this year and millions more are in danger of having these services shut off because they are at least 1 month late in paying their bills.

Increasing LIHEAP funding will allow these Americans to turn their electricity and other essential utility services back on right now so that they can cool their homes this summer and heat their homes next winter.

According to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, a record-breaking 15.6 million American families or nearly 15 percent of all households, are at least 30 days overdue in paying their utility bills.

USA Today recently reported that ``Electricity and natural gas shutoffs are up at least 15 percent in several states compared with last year. Totals for some utilities have more than doubled.''

The article then goes on to give the following examples:

In Pennsylvania, PPL Electric Utilities disconnected 7,054 customers through April this year, up 168 percent over the same 2007 period.

Duke Energy in North Carolina is averaging about 11,000 shutoffs a month, 14 percent above last year.

Disconnects are up 27 percent for Peoples Gas in Chicago, 14 percent for Southern California Edison and 56 percent for Detroit Edison. In Michigan, where home foreclosures are soaring and the unemployment rate is the USA's highest, more than one in five Detroit Edison customers were behind in their electric bills in May.

``Some help is available,'' USA Today goes on to report. ``The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is providing $2.5 billion in fiscal 2008, but funds are depleted.''

Due to insufficient funding, the average LIHEAP grant only pays for 18 percent of the total cost of heating a home with heating oil; 21 percent of residential propane costs; 41 percent of natural gas costs; and 43 percent of electricity costs. What this means is that low income families with children; senior citizens on fixed incomes and persons with disabilities will have to make up the remaining costs out of their own pockets.

And, only 16 percent of eligible LIHEAP recipients currently receive assistance with their home energy bills. What that means is that 84 percent of eligible low-income families with children, senior citizens on fixed incomes and persons with disabilities do not receive any LIHEAP assistance whatsoever due to a lack of funding.

Unless we significantly increase LIHEAP funding, two things will happen: fewer and fewer Americans will receive the assistance to keep their homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer; or the grants they receive will become smaller and smaller even as the price of energy soars. We cannot allow that to happen.

No family in our Nation should be forced to choose between paying their home energy bills and putting food on the table. No senior citizen should have to decide between buying life-saving prescriptions and paying utility bills. For individuals and households that may have to face these difficult choices, LlHEAP makes a real difference in their ability to cope with adverse circumstances.

For all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act.

There are differences, obviously, in the Senate, differences within the House, on a number of very important energy issues. I understand that. I appreciated the differences. I have my point of view. Other people have different points of view.

There is far less difference of opinion--I think widespread support--among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents that we need to move. We need to move quickly to significantly expand LIHEAP funding. By expanding it, by doubling it, we are doing nothing more than keeping pace with inflation because the price of home heating fuel in my State has doubled so all we are doing is keeping even.

I hope we will come together as a body--progressives conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, Independents--and pass this legislation quickly. There is a companion piece in the House. I hope we can get that done and bring the two pieces together. We are going to be able to provide some relief to millions of Americans.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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