Jack Reed: “recently Senator Collins and I introduced an amendment to the proposed budget reconciliation bill to fund a $2.9 billion…”

“recently Senator Collins and I introduced an amendment to the proposed budget reconciliation bill to fund a $2.9 billion increase in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program by placing a temporary 1-year windfall profit tax on big oil companies. I filed this amendment to the budget reconciliation bill to begin the dialog, and I intend to call for a vote on my amendment when the Senate debates the tax reconciliation bill in the next few days. Last week, oil companies reported record profits for the third quarter on surging oil prices. Chevron posted profits of $3.6 billion. BP's profits rose to $6.5 billion. Royal Dutch/Shell profits grew to $9 billion. And ExxonMobil profits gushed up 75 percent to nearly $10 billion. According to BusinessWeek, that equals $150 million in profit for every working day in the past 3 months. This year has been an exceptionally lucrative one for the oil industry and an exceptionally impoverishing one for American families and seniors. Profits going to big oil are money coming out of wallets of working families and seniors and wealth draining out of our communities. Fully funding LIHEAP is a vital imperative. I believe the big oil companies should help shoulder the cost. Rising energy prices could financially wipe out working-class families and seniors this winter.…”