Some good local press on the LIHEAP Amendment

[TayTay]

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/10-05/10-09-05/a06wn494.htm

Senate ignores measure to double heating relief
By SARAH SHEMKUS, Standard-Times correspondent

WASHINGTON -- As temperatures drop and the price of heating oil rises in New England, the Senate has failed to address a measure that would have more than doubled federal fuel assistance funds for low-income people.
The measure, an amendment that would have increased funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to $5.1 billion, was thrown out when a procedural move prevented the measure from being voted on.
"The Republican leadership has sent a terrible message to Americans, because tonight politics was placed ahead of helping families," Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who sponsored the amendment, said in a press release.
The energy bill that President Bush signed in August authorized up to $5.1 billion for the assistance program, but the Senate currently plans to spend only $2.183 billion, an increase of $1 million from last year.