American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008
Floor Speech
AMERICAN HOUSING RESCUE AND FORECLOSURE PREVENTION ACT OF 2008 -- (Senate - July 26, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, the Senator from Alabama said that what the LIHEAP legislation is about is subsidizing fossil fuels. No, that is not accurate. What the LIHEAP legislation is about is keeping people alive in Alabama, in Arizona, in Texas, in Vermont, in Maine, and all over this country. The Senator from Alabama should know that people are dying this summer, when the heat gets to 110 degrees and when electric rates are soaring and they do not have the money to pay those electric bills.
The Senator from Alabama and others should know the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, have made it very clear that more people die from extreme heat exposure and exposure to the cold than all other natural disasters combined.
Let's be clear what we are voting on this morning. When the Senator from Alabama and others say: Well, we are spending money trying to keep the elderly and the sick and children alive when the weather gets 20 below zero, we are. I will vote for those proposals, rather than hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthiest 1 percent.
I will vote to make sure people in Vermont do not freeze in the winter, while we give tax breaks to ExxonMobil that enjoys recordbreaking profits. That is what we are talking about, priorities. Do we keep the old and the sick and kids alive when the weather gets cold or when the weather gets very hot or do we spend money on people who make huge campaign contributions? That is part of what this debate is about.
Mr. SESSIONS. Will the Senator yield?
Mr. SANDERS. I have the floor. I will not yield.
Some other people are saying what we should be talking about is energy policy. Well, of course, we should. The energy policy of this country is way out of whack. We are spending $700 billion a year importing foreign oil. We need to move to sustainable energy. We have not moved to energy efficiency. There is an honest debate about where and how much drilling should take place. But that is not what this debate is about.
Since 1981, we have had LIHEAP. It has been supported in a bipartisan manner from everybody from President Bush on down. It is a program that has worked. What everybody in this Chamber understands is the price of home heating oil is soaring, the price of electricity is soaring, and the people will become sick and die and be forced to leave their homes if we do not significantly expand LIHEAP funding in order to make sure they can pay their bills.
Let me reiterate to my friend from Alabama or anybody else: This is not a cold-weather State bill. Am I worried about what is going to happen in Vermont this winter? You can bet on it.
Mr. SESSIONS. Who gets the benefit?
Mr. SANDERS. I believe I have the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont has the floor.
Mr. SANDERS. In Philadelphia, PA, in June, 17 people died from heat exhaustion. In Arizona, over the years, hundreds of people have died because they lack the ability to stay cool in the summer.
This legislation is supported by the AARP because they understand, the largest senior group in America, what will happen to older Americans if it is not passed.
This legislation is supported by the National Governors Association because they know the financial problems facing States and the need for the Federal Government to act. This legislation is supported by the Southern Governors Association because they know what hot weather does to peoples' health, especially the old and the sick when they cannot stay cool.
What we are dealing with is literally a life-and-death situation. People in the hot-weather States will die when temperatures get to be 115 degrees, and they cannot afford the electricity to stay cool with air-conditioning.
People will die in the Northern tier when the weather gets 20 below zero, and they cannot afford the high cost of home heating oil or gas.
The American people are sick and tired of all the partisanship which is going on. Every Member of the Senate can write a press release telling their constituents why they voted no. But you know what, I do not think the people are going to believe you. If we have enough money for tax breaks for ExxonMobil, we have enough money in this country to make sure people do not freeze to death and that people do not die of heat exhaustion.
I hope we can come together while we disagree about other aspects of energy policy. I hope we can finally come together and go back home, whether it is to the South or the North, and tell the American people, we understand what high energy prices are doing to them. We are going to stay with you. We are not going to let the most fragile people in our country, the most vulnerable people in our country, suffer unnecessarily when we know how to help them.
I yield the floor.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source