To provide for appropriations for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

SA 2033. Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Reed, Mr. Dorgan,
Mr. Jeffords, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Kohl, Mr.
Bayh, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Reid, and
Mr. Schumer) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to
the bill H.R. 2863, making appropriations for the Department of Defense
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes;
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title VII, insert the following:

Administration for Children and Families

Low Income Home Energy Assistance

For making payments under title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.),
$3,100,000,000, for the unanticipated home energy assistance
needs of 1 or more States, as authorized by section 2604(e)
of the Act (42 U.S.C. 8623(e)), which amount shall be made
available for obligation in fiscal year 2006 and which amount
is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section
402 of H. Con. Res. 95 (109th Congress), the concurrent
resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2006.
Sec. __. Congress finds the following:
(1) An imminent emergency is confronting millions of low-
income individuals in the United States who are unable to
afford the cost of rising energy prices.
(2) Prior to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita in the Gulf Coast region of the United States,
individuals in the United States were facing record prices
for oil, natural gas, and propane. Hurricane Katrina damaged
platforms and ports and curtailed production at refineries in
the Gulf of Mexico, the source of almost \1/3\ of United
States oil output, further raising energy prices.
(3) The Short Term Energy Outlook report of the Energy
Information Administration of the Department of Energy states
that the ranges for expected heating fuel expenditure
increases for the winter heating season of 2005-2006 are--
(A) 69 percent to 77 percent for natural gas in the
Midwest;
(B) 17 percent to 18 percent for electricity in the South;
(C) 29 percent to 33 percent for heating oil in the
Northeast; and
(D) 39 percent to 43 percent for propane in the Midwest.
(4) According to the National Energy Assistance Directors
Association, heating costs for the average family using
heating oil are projected to hit $1,666 for the 2005-2006
winter heating season. Those costs would represent an
increase of $403 over those costs for the 2004-2005 winter
heating season, and an increase of $714 over those costs for
the 2003-2004 winter heating season. For families using
natural gas, prices are projected to hit $1,568 for the 2005-
2006 winter heating season, representing an increase of $611
over those costs for the 2004-2005 winter heating season, and
an increase of $643 over those costs for the 2003-2004 winter
heating season. States need additional funding immediately to
help low-income families and seniors to ensure that they can
afford to heat their homes.
(5) The Mortgage Bankers Association expects that steep
energy costs could increase the number of missed mortgage
payments and lost homes beginning later this year.
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