LIHEAP

Floor Speech

LIHEAP -- (Senate - July 25, 2008)

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Mr. SANDERS. I agree with the previous speaker, the distinguished Senator from Ohio, about the need for a national energy policy. He and I may disagree as to what that policy should look like, but at a time when we are spending $700 billion a year importing oil from abroad, at a time when we are contributing toward global warming, at a time when the oil companies are enjoying recordbreaking profits, at a time when some people will tell us, experts will tell us, that speculation is driving up the cost of a barrel of oil by 25 to 50 percent, I think we need a new energy policy.

But I sincerely hope my good friend from Ohio will not penalize the millions of low-income people who are not here on that debate. For them, it is a life-and-death issue, in some cases, about whether we double LIHEAP funding in order to provide the benefits they desperately need. There are many reasons that any of us can give for not voting for a piece of legislation, but I hope in terms of the very important LIHEAP vote, we do not have folks coming up, well, I believe in LIHEAP; I am not voting for A or B; this is why--if we do not double the amount of money for LIHEAP at a time when home heating oil costs will be double what they were a couple of years ago.

Natural gas prices, as the Senator from Ohio said, are rising very rapidly. People throughout the country, in the southern part, are unable to afford electricity and are trying to get by without air-conditioning at a great threat to their health. I hope those people will not be held hostage to the debate we are having.

Yes, of course, we need a national energy policy. Yes, of course, this current policy is a disaster. But, please, let's not create a situation where people die and people suffer. Who gets LIHEAP? My friend from Ohio knows who gets LIHEAP. Those are the elderly people who get LIHEAP. Those are lower income families with children. Those are people with disabilities. Please, let's not hold those people hostage tomorrow while we continue the debate.

So, I say to my good friend from Ohio, count me in as someone who will continue to fight for a national energy policy. I happen to disagree with the Senator on some of the particulars, but we need a national energy policy. Of course, we need to lower the cost of energy.

But, right now, when we are seeing in the northern tier of the country, in the Northeast, a doubling of the price of home heating oil, people will go cold, people will freeze if we do not provide them with the help they need. I hope I can count on my friend's support tomorrow for that legislation.

I am very happy to say, in terms of LIHEAP, we are getting very significant bipartisan support for this legislation. This bill which, as I mentioned, would double the amount of money we are spending on LIHEAP--it is S. 3186, the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act. It now has 52 cosponsors, 35 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and 2 Independents. I want to thank all of them. I want to thank Majority Leader Reid, Senators Obama, Durbin, Murray, Landrieu, Leahy, Cantwell, Jack Reed, Kerry, Kennedy, Schumer, Levin, Cardin, Brown, Klobuchar, Menendez, Casey,--and I want to thank you, the Presiding Officer, for your strong support for this legislation--Bingaman, Lautenberg, Stabenow, Bill Nelson, Baucus, Salazar, Wyden, Whitehouse, Rockefeller, Dodd, Tester, Mikulski, Biden, Kohl, Dorgan, McCaskill, and Boxer.

I also want to thank 13 Republican cosponsors of this legislation. It is no secret that we are in the midst of a lot of partisanship, a lot of bad feelings. But I am very glad that 13 Republicans have come on board this legislation. They are Senators Grassley, Snowe, Stevens, Coleman, Smith, Sununu, Collins, Murkowski, Gregg, Lugar, Bond, Dole, and Specter.

I appreciate their support, as well as Senator Lieberman, the other Independent, in addition to myself. I thank Senator Reid, the majority leader, for trying to push this legislation.

Not only do we have a significant amount of support in the Senate, we are getting support from dozens and dozens and dozens of organizations from all over this country who understand the importance of LIHEAP and the need to substantially increase funding.

Now, one of the organizations that has been very active and actively involved in this issue is the AARP, which is the largest senior group in this country. I would like to, if I may, read briefly from a statement that the AARP made in support of the legislation that is coming up tomorrow.

And that is:

AARP fully supports the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act. This legislation will provide needed relief for many older persons who may not receive assistance despite their eligibility due to a lack of funding. Older Americans who are more susceptible to hypothermia and heat stroke know the importance of heating and cooling their homes. They often skip on other necessities to pay their utility bills.

However, today's escalating energy prices and the Nation's unpredictable and extreme temperatures are adding to the growing economic hardship faced by seniors. LIHEAP is underfunded and unable to meet the energy assistance needs of the program's eligible households. Studies show that while LIHEAP serves more households than ever before, only 16 percent of eligible households received assistance in 2006.

Let me repeat that. Only 16 percent, in 2006. The need is now substantially greater because of the rising cost of fuel and because of the recession we are in currently.

AARP finishes by saying:

An estimated gap of almost $28 billion now exists between what LIHEAP pays and total energy costs facing the eligible LIHEAP population.

So we are very appreciative that AARP is supporting this legislation. Let me mention a letter that I received yesterday from the National Governors Association. The National Governors Association, representing all 50 Governors in this country, is also supporting this legislation. Let me read briefly from this letter.

I ask unanimous consent to have this letter printed in the Record.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

(See Exhibit 1.)

Mr. SANDERS. The letter states:

Dear Senator Reid and Senator McConnell: On behalf of the Nation's governors, we write to express our support for increased funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for fiscal year 2008.

Bipartisan efforts, such as the ``Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act'' (S. 3186), which would add $2.53 billion in LIHEAP funding for FY 2008 and split this funding equitably between the LIHEAP base formula grant and the contingency fund, are a step in the right direction. This approach will help ensure that States receive an equitable share of the energy assistance.

I thank the National Governors Association. The letter was signed by Governor Granholm and Governor Rell of Connecticut. We appreciate their support.

I come from a State where the weather gets 20 below zero. In a moment, I will be talking about what some of my constituents experienced last winter and the fears they have for the coming winter and why it is absolutely imperative that we substantially increase LIHEAP funding.

What I want to do right now is read about what is going on in America today, in July and in June of 2008, in terms of the impact that high temperatures are having on some of our most vulnerable citizens, primarily the elderly.

We gathered some headlines and brief articles about events and tragedies that are occurring right now.

From the Mississippi Daily Journal:

An autopsy report confirmed a Monroe County, Mississippi, man died as a result of heat stroke Sunday.

Later on in the article it states:

When the temperatures hit the high 90s, North Mississippi Medical Center emergency department starts seeing more heat-related illnesses, particularly heat exhaustion [hospital officials said.]

Then there is an article, which I am sure you are familiar with, which comes from the Philadelphia Inquirer. This was June 14, 2008. This was rather astounding because Philadelphia is not in the middle of the South. This is the way the article reads. It says:

The National Weather Service warned last week that the four-day hot spell that began June 7 could be deadly--and the projection proved all too true. As of yesterday----

This is the article on June 14--

As of yesterday, the deaths of 17 people in Philadelphia has been linked to the heat during those four days. Most lack air conditioning in their homes. In several cases fans and open windows proved insufficient.

That is from the Philadelphia Inquirer. I know that is one of the reasons you are such a strong supporter and why Senator Specter is also a strong supporter.

That was in Philadelphia. In Modesto, CA, ``Heat Claims Life of Elderly Modesto, California Woman.''

In Woodland, CA, ``4 Deaths Blamed on NorCal Heat Wave.''

Last week's Northern California heat wave is being blamed for killing at least four people.

June 12, 2008, The Capital, the newspaper in Annapolis. It reads:

An elderly man was found dead inside his stifling Orchard Beach, Maryland home early this week, marking the first heat-related fatality in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in three years.

The article goes on:

Maryland recorded 21 heat-related deaths in 2007, 43 in 2006 and 47 in 2005, according to the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. The county Health Department said Anne Arundel had three heat-related fatalities in 2005.

``Every summer, we see an increase in call volume related to heat-related emergencies,'' Chief Tobia said. And tragically, this death highlights the absolute importance of staying cool, staying hydrated and checking in on your neighbors.''

Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ, June 9, 2008. Headline: ``69 Valley Facilities Give Water, Aid to Homeless.''

Blue Swadener, a spokesman for St. Joseph the Worker, said there were 50 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, AZ between May and September 2007.

On and on it goes. This is only a sampling of headlines dealing with heat-related deaths. Let me talk a little bit about what is going on in some of the northern States, especially in Vermont. A couple of months ago, I asked Vermonters to write to me telling me about their experience with high energy costs and a very tough economy. These are some of the letters I received from Vermont. A moment ago we talked about what is going on in warm weather States, when the weather becomes very hot. This is from Vermont. The first letter comes from a mother who lives in rural Vermont:

We have two small children (a baby and a toddler) and felt fortunate to own our own house and land but due to the increasing fuel prices we have at times had to choose between baby food [and] diapers and heating fuel. We've run out of heating fuel three times so far and the baby has ended up in the hospital with pneumonia two of the times. We try to keep the kids warm with an electric space heater on those nights, but that just doesn't do the trick ..... Please help.

That is what we are talking about. That is why we need to increase LIHEAP so that children do not get cold and end up in the hospital or that elderly people in the southern part of this country die or end up in the hospital because of heat exhaustion.

Another letter I received from a small city in Vermont:

I am a single mother with a 9 year old boy. We lived this past winter without any heat at all. ..... To stay warm at night my son and I would pull off all the pillows from the couch and pile them on the kitchen floor. I'd hang a blanket from the kitchen doorway and we'd sleep right there on the floor. By February we ran out of wood and I burned my mother's dining room furniture. I have no oil for hot water. We boil our water on the stove and pour it in the tub.

I know there are a lot of reasons to vote against anything. Please do not hold these people hostage to the ongoing energy debate we face in this country. Yes, of course, we need an energy policy. Yes, of course, what we are doing today is absurd. But there are people who will die. There are people who will end up in the hospital. There are people who get sick. There will be people who have to take money out of their medicine budget, out of their food budget to pay for heat in the winter or air-conditioning in the summer. Let us not punish those people. I know all the excuses, all of the reasons that people can give for voting no. Hold them. Don't use them tomorrow. Let the people back home know you are going to stand up for some of the most vulnerable people in this country while we work on a national energy policy.

At a time when home energy bills are soaring, what this legislation does is basically double the amount of LIHEAP funding. It fulfills what the authorization level was. That is what it does, not more than that. What it understands, as I mentioned earlier, is that while millions of people today are receiving LIHEAP funds, millions more who are eligible for the program simply are not getting into it because there is not enough funding available. What happens is, as home heating prices soar, either fewer people will be able to receive benefits or else the benefits people receive will be simply inadequate because States have to cut back. That is why the National Governors Association is supporting this legislation.

I made this point the other day, but it is worth repeating: When there is a flood, when there is a fire, and then there is a natural disaster, CNN and the other TV cameras are there. They cover it. All of us are concerned about the enormous problems facing the Midwest in terms of the flooding there. We are concerned about the terrible forest fires taking place in California. As a nation, we have to address those problems. But I ask my colleagues to understand that just because CNN is not in a house which has no heat when the weather gets 20 below zero, don't think that is not as important an issue. Do not think that suffering is not as real. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, over 1,000 Americans from across the country died from hypothermia in their own homes, not out on the street, from 1999 to 2002, which are the latest figures we have available. They froze to death in the United States. That is why LIHEAP as a program was created, and that is why we have to expand the mission of LIHEAP to address the reality of today, that while our economy is declining, energy costs are soaring. More and more people are in need of LIHEAP.

As I mentioned earlier, this is not only a cold weather issue. Over the past decade more than 400 people died of heat exposure in Arizona, including 31 in July of 2005 alone.

Let me wrap up my remarks by thanking all of the Members of the Senate--I think there are 52 or 53 cosponsors, including 13 Republicans--for their support. I thank the AARP and the dozens and dozens of other organizations for their support. I thank the National Governors Association for their support. Every person in the Senate is a politician. We know how the system works. We know we can give any excuse under God's sky for voting no on an issue. We can vote no any time we want to. We can write a press release explaining why we are voting no. I hope tomorrow Members of the Senate will not exercise that option. I hope tomorrow Senators will not force millions of the most vulnerable people--LIHEAP is primarily for the elderly; it is for people with disabilities, for families with kids--please, do not punish those people, do not force those people to go cold or get sick or die because of heat exhaustion because of the debate we are having here right now. There is widespread support that this legislation should be passed, that funding should be substantially increased. That is what we are doing.

I hope tomorrow we can have a very significant and good vote on this important piece of legislation so the American people can see that in the midst of all of this partisanship, Members of the Senate have come together to say that no one in our country will freeze to death this winter or die of heat exhaustion.

This is an important issue. The vote is tomorrow. I look forward to widespread support from both sides of the aisle.

I yield the floor.

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