Haley Stevens: “The Senator's amendment mandates the Secretary to make this available from the moneys that the Senator has mentioned.…”

“The Senator's amendment mandates the Secretary to make this available from the moneys that the Senator has mentioned. The Secretary has current authority to do it. It is discretionary. The effect of his amendment is to mandate that, of the moneys that are there, at least $45 million shall be available immediately for the disaster victims. I believe that the fund itself is for general population assistance for LIHEAP projects. If the Senator will take out the reference to the specific States, what it means is that the $45 million is reserved for the purposes he seeks and, if there is additional money in there, for others. But we think this reserving money ought to be for victims of all disasters covered by the bill.”