Albert Russell Wynn: “humorist Frank McKinney Hubbard once said, ``Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of…”

“humorist Frank McKinney Hubbard once said, ``Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people wouldn't start a conversation.'' Unfortunately, extreme weather is nothing to laugh about. Tonight, I would like to talk about the underfunding of the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, and how we have failed to protect our Nation's citizens against harsh winter and blistering summer elements. Lyndon Johnson once talked about building a ``Great Society.'' But we cannot have a ``Great Society'' if we only provide tax breaks for the wealthy while ignoring the suffering of the poor in America. LIHEAP was enacted to assist low-income citizens who pay a high proportion of their household income to meet their immediate home energy needs. Low-income households spend 14 percent of their annual income on energy expenditures, compared to non-low-income households, that only spend 3.5 percent. In fact, two-thirds of the families that utilize LIHEAP assistance have annual incomes of $8,000, forcing them to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table. From 1995 to 2004, the average number of cold-related deaths was 27 annually. Meanwhile, my colleagues from the south note that during the same time period, the average number of deaths from heat was 237 annually. The point is that LIHEAP should be available to offset high energy costs in both winter and summer.…”