Edward M. Kennedy: “in the aftermath of the severe cold wave last month in the Northeast, emergency aid through the Low Income Home Energy…”

“in the aftermath of the severe cold wave last month in the Northeast, emergency aid through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is clearly needed. The bill before us asks President Clinton to release $300 million of the $600 million available in contingency funds for this program. The bill also requests that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services be permitted to target this funding to the States that are most in need. I strongly support both of these goals, and I commend Senator Byrd, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Harkin, the chairman of the Labor and Health and Human Services Subcommittee, for their leadership on this provision. These Senators have been instrumental in ensuring that the LIHEAP Program serves the needs of low-income families. This emergency aid will ease the heavy burden of one of the coldest winters in recent memory. We need this $300 million emergency appropriation, and we need it as soon as possible. Even before this winter began, the LIHEAP Program was being shortchanged. In fiscal year 1985, $2.1 billion was appropriated to LIHEAP. In fiscal year 1994, LIHEAP received only $1.4 billion, a 30-percent decrease. In Massachusetts, only 27 percent of those eligible actually receive LIHEAP's aid. Low-income families have had to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children.”