Jack Reed: “I, too, at the appropriate moment will offer a motion to instruct the conferees. I will offer the motion in conjunction…”

“I, too, at the appropriate moment will offer a motion to instruct the conferees. I will offer the motion in conjunction with Senators Collins, Kennedy, Snowe, Lieberman, Leahy, Bingaman, Coleman, Salazar, Stabenow, Clinton, Lugar, Harkin, Levin, Smith, and Pryor. This motion to instruct conferees is about LIHEAP, the Low Income Heating Assistance Program. Each of us, at this point, is very familiar with the struggle that is taking place today. If you were in New England over the weekend, as I was, or in many other parts of the country, you understand that temperatures have fallen and many families are having to perform a juggling act with their budgets in order to heat their homes. According to EIA's most recent short-term energy outlook, released last week, energy costs for the average family using heating oil are estimated to hit $1,454 this winter, an increase of $255. That is a 21- percent increase over last year's heating season. Natural gas prices could hit $1,024 for an average family using natural gas. That would be an increase of $282 or a 38-percent increase. For a family using propane, prices are projected to hit $1,269, an increase of $167 from last heating season, and that is a 15-percent increase.…”