Waiving Points of Order Against Conference Report on H.R. 4818, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 and Providing for Consideration of H.J. Res. 114

WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4818, CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 114, MAKING FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2005, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES -- (House of Representatives - November 20, 2004)

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 866 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I know it is late in the process, but I regret that this omnibus appropriations bill is wholly short on funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program, otherwise known as LIHEAP. I am compelled to speak on this issue because of the very real national crisis facing residents of the Northeast and the Midwest in the weeks and months ahead.

Mr. Speaker, this omnibus bill provides a total funding for LIHEAP of $2.2 billion. That is approximately $800 million of the level needed to ensure that this program has the same purchasing power as when it was created in 1982.

According to the Center For Budget and Policy Priorities, across this country Americans will see a 24 percent increase in the price of home heating. Heating oil is going up 32 percent, propane 22.3 percent, and natural gas 12.1 percent. Our most vulnerable Americans depend on this program to protect them in the harsh winter months.

Regrettably, the LIHEAP level of funding in this omnibus appropriations bill does not give them that protection. Millions of them will be left out in the cold.

Mr. Speaker, I tried, without success, to amend the conference report in the Rules Committee to increase LIHEAP funding by approximately $800 million. I hope Members of this body, as they return home for the holidays, will remember that they had a chance to address this issue and they were denied that opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, there probably are some good things in this omnibus. Time will tell. This appropriations bill was brought before the Committee on Rules at 9 a.m. this morning. It is a huge bill, as Members see. It probably weighs more than I do, and it will take some time for all of us to sift through the paper. But it frustrates me that those without a powerful lobby or special interest PAC oftentimes are forgotten. This place is about priorities and choices, and this omnibus bill fails to make LIHEAP the priority it needs to be.

Mr. Speaker, the sun is shining on American corporations that choose to take advantage of a special tax loophole by incorporating in the Caribbean Islands. But here at home, in particular my home State of Massachusetts, it is going to be a cold, dark winter for many seniors and low-income families. People in America should never have to choose between paying for their prescription drugs and heating their homes, and people in America should never have to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table. Yet because of our lack of action, those are the choices that too many Americans will have to make this winter. We could have and we should have done better.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. FROST) for his many years of service in this Congress. We are all very proud to have served with him. I wish the gentleman well.

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