Delegation Announces
$1.3 Million For
Vermont Home Heating Assistance
BURLINGTON, February 22 – U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders
and Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch today announced the
release of $40 million in home heating assistance.
The latest round of emergency heating aid included $1.3 million for
Vermont, where a new layer of snow was falling and the low temperature
tonight was predicted to be around 17 degrees in Burlington.
The White House is still sitting on another $120 million in emergency
funds that President Bush has not released to states during a cold
winter when heating oil prices have soared to record highs around $3.40
a gallon.
“The good news is that help paying home heating bills is going to
states like Vermont where the need is greatest,” Sanders said. “I
strongly encourage the White House to release the remaining funds
because the high price of home heating fuel is stretching the budgets of
seniors on fixed incomes, families with children and people with
disabilities.”
“It is a good thing that this help is on the way to families across
the state that are feeling the pressure of high heating costs,” Leahy
said. “But the need is great, and I urge the administration to release
the additional $120 million that Congress has made available. No family
should be forced to choose between heating bills and putting food on the
table.”
Welch said, “The continued high cost of heating fuel is crippling
Vermonters’ already tight budgets and threatens the well-being of many
of our neighbors struggling to get by. This release is welcome news, but
with oil at record high prices again this week, we need energy policies
that will bring the excessive cost of fuel under control.”
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program provides critical help
to 5.8 million senior citizens on fixed incomes and low-income families
with children, including approximately 20,000 households in Vermont.
# # # # #