Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

Floor Speech

Mr. TONKO. Madam Chair. I move to strike the last word.

The cuts contained in these sections to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program--LIHEAP--are dangerous, and I rise to oppose them. The Republican continuing resolution cuts $390.3 million in funding from LIHEAP's emergency contingency fund for the remaining seven months of this fiscal year. Those are cuts that are made on the backs of the low-income residents, like those I represent in the cold and snowy Capital Region of New York, who struggle to pay for the cost of home heating oil and natural gas.

LIHEAP is a widely supported, essential program that delivers short-term aid to our most vulnerable neighbors, including the elderly on fixed incomes. LIHEAP provides a vital safety net, allowing families and seniors to stay healthy and protected from cold winters and hot summers. It keeps those receiving help from having to make the heart-breaking decision about whether to pay to keep the heat on, or to pay for food and prescription drugs.

The numbers of households receiving assistance reached record levels this year, increasing from 7.7 million to 8.8 million. The rise in participation includes only households that are below the maximum income level--$33,525 for a family of four this year. The need for the continued support of LIHEAP is clear--the program was only able to help one in five eligible Americans. Four out of five families in need went without this assistance, and were left out in the cold.

The Republican continuing resolution cuts $390.3 million in funding from LIHEAP's contingency fund.The LIHEAP contingency fund allocates emergency funding to states dealing with emergencies, like cold snaps, heat waves, or spikes in energy prices that force low-income Americans to cut off their heat. So far this year, the Administration has released $200 million in contingency funds, illustrating the need for full funding of the contingency fund. I do not think we can afford to let seven more months pass and risk another blizzard, or another heat wave, and leave our nation's vulnerable citizens out on their own.

In FY 2010, my home state of New York received about $57.8 million in contingency funds, but in FY 2011 the state has only received about $26 million. These CR cuts would mean that New York loses out on about half the contingency fund money it saw during the same period last year. Given the fact that this winter has been comparably cold and seen substantially more snow, my state and my constituents will be losing out tremendously with these cuts.

The continued need for LIHEAP funding is clear to me as I travel around my district and talk to my constituents. Staff in my district offices help connect seniors and low-income families to LIHEAP for desperately needed assistance. Cutting funding for this program is, in my mind, unconscionable. We cannot leave behind our nation's most vulnerable in the dead of winter.

The Majority is lauding the fact that this bill represents the largest spending cut in the history of our country. If they want to cut funding to satisfy their base, fine. But I will not stand for cutting LIHEAP funding. I will not support budget cuts balanced on the backs of seniors on fixed incomes, struggling to make it through this cold winter. Madam Chair, I urge defeat of this bill.

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