Tom Harkin: “as you know, many members on both sides of the aisle have concerns about the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program…”

“as you know, many members on both sides of the aisle have concerns about the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the lack of an advance appropriation for that program in fiscal year 2002. As you know, home heating costs have skyrocketed over the past year in many areas of the country. The LIHEAP program helps over four million low-income households with their heating bills. Usually this appropriations bill includes advance funding for LIHEAP so that states have time to plan their program, but due to a provision in the budget resolution capping advance appropriations we were not able to do so this year. I hope, as I know you do, that we finish our work on this bill before October 1 next year. But if we do not, I think we should do everything we can to see that any continuing resolution for fiscal year 2002 would include sufficient funds for States to properly run their LIHEAP programs.”