To express the sense of the Senate that the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program should be funded at not less than $4,700,000,000 annually.

SA 74. Mr. REED (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Sanders, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Casey, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Schumer) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1, to approve
the Keystone XL Pipeline; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF THE SENATE.

(a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
(1) The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (referred
to in this section as

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``LIHEAP'') is the main Federal program that helps low-income
households and senior citizens with their energy bills,
providing vital assistance during both the cold winter and
hot summer months.
(2) Recipients of LIHEAP assistance are among the most
vulnerable individuals in the country, with more than 90
percent of LIHEAP households having at least one member who
is a child, a senior citizen, or disabled, and 20 percent of
LIHEAP households including at least one veteran.
(3) The number of households eligible for LIHEAP assistance
continues to exceed available funding, with current funding
reaching just 20 percent of the eligible population.
(4) The average LIHEAP grant covers just a fraction of home
energy costs, leaving many low-income families and senior
citizens struggling to pay their energy bills and with fewer
resources available to meet other essential needs.
(5) Access to affordable home energy is a matter of health
and safety for many low-income households, children, senior
citizens, and veterans.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that LIHEAP should be funded at not less than $4,700,000,000
annually, to ensure that more low-income households and
children, senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and
veterans can meet basic home energy needs.
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