Full-Year Continuing Approriations Act, 2011

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

Mr. MCGOVERN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to any cuts to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, in this misguided Republican CR.

Mr. Chair, cutting LIHEAP would literally leave thousands of families and seniors in the cold.

My constituents in the 3rd congressional district and people across the country, are experiencing one of the coldest winters on record.

The number of households served by LIHEAP has skyrocketed in recent years, jumping from 5.8 million in fiscal year 2008 to a projected 8.9 million in fiscal year 2011.

In just this year alone, Massachusetts expects to see a 21 percent increase in the number of eligible applications.

And, to make matters worse, the cost of home heating oil continues to go up this winter. Since November, the cost of heating oil has gone from $3.11 to $3.58 a gallon.

This means that the average family living in New England is now paying about $30 more for home heating than they initially expected at the start of this winter.

It is unconscionable that we would even consider cutting heating assistance at a time like this.

My Republican colleagues seem to have no problem supporting tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires but, when it comes to families and seniors struggling to heat their homes, they have no problem saying ``so be it.''

I understand that we need to reduce our deficit and long-term debt but doing so by literally leaving thousands of Americans out in the cold is exactly the wrong approach.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose cuts to LIHEAP and oppose this CR.
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