Bernie Sanders: “The reason I rise is to deal with a very important issue that impacts millions of our fellow Americans, and that is all…”

“The reason I rise is to deal with a very important issue that impacts millions of our fellow Americans, and that is all over this country, with the price of home heating oil soaring, people are wondering about how they are going to stay warm this winter. My very fervent hope is that the Congress, both the Senate and the House, will address this issue before we adjourn for the Christmas holidays. I commend Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Byrd, Chairman Harkin, and others for, in fact, adding a significant sum of money-- over $400 million--to the Omnibus appropriations bill. This is important, and I appreciate that. I think people all over this country appreciate that. Unfortunately, however, this total of $2.6 billion in funding for LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, that so many people, so many elderly people depend upon in order to stay warm in the wintertime, while it is an 18-percent increase from last year, it is still 23 percent below what was provided for LIHEAP just 2 years ago in nominal dollars. Meanwhile, as everybody knows, the cost of home heating fuels has soared. Compared to 2 years ago, heating oil prices are projected to be 50 percent higher this winter.”