Bill Pascrell: “we find ourselves facing impending cold weather and a looming energy crisis. Oil prices and high energy costs must be an…”

“we find ourselves facing impending cold weather and a looming energy crisis. Oil prices and high energy costs must be an issue on the Nation's agenda. The rising cost of home heating oil will have a devastating economic impact on 36 percent of the households in the Northeast. We in Congress cannot ignore this. Currently, home heating oil inventories are down. In fact, stocks of crude oil, gasoline and heating oil in the United States have not been at levels this low since the middle 1970s, when our economy was thrown into turmoil. The demand for fuel is predicted to increase significantly this winter. We need to do a few things. A home heating oil reserve in the Northeast with an effective trigger is critical to the stability and well-being of all of our constituents. I am pleased that the President has heeded the bipartisan call of many in Congress to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower the price of oil and satisfy some of the demand. Only a small percentage of the released oil will be used for home heating oil, but the message the President has given is clear: the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and its funding and weatherization assistance is also essential for low-income families. We must continue to take steps to ensure that low-income families and seniors do not have to make the choice between staying warm or buying food.”