Jeanne Shaheen: “I wish to speak against this amendment. It would hurt low-income families and saddle them with higher energy costs. The…”

“I wish to speak against this amendment. It would hurt low-income families and saddle them with higher energy costs. The updates that HUD has proposed are estimated to generate cost savings of almost 35 percent over current standards and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 2.2 million tons. That will amount to savings of $74 million a year or a total of $1 billion to $1\1/2\ billion over 30 years. Now, that is real money that households, particularly in northern climates like New Hampshire, can use for other needs and millions of tons of carbon dioxide that are kept out of the atmosphere. The fact is the current standards are outdated; and by law, HUD and USDA are supposed to update their standards within 1 year of industry revisions. This amendment would prevent them from doing that. It will raise costs. And as Rob Portman and I worked since 2011, energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest way to deal with our energy needs. We need to vote down this amendment. It is no good. Vote on Amendment No. 1237 to Amendment No. 1092 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now occurs on agreeing to amendment No. 1237.”