Washington, DC - Joining with members of the Northeast-Midwest House and Senate Coalitions, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today renewed her opposition to the Bush Administration's proposed cuts to the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and called on the President to release emergency funds to help low-income families and the elderly in New York pay their heating bills over the coming winter months. The Administration's reductions would mean that New Yorkers will be left out in the cold. These federal dollars are a lifeline for low-income families and elderly citizens in New York who are struggling to pay increased heating bills this winter.

Even with the additional LIHEAP funding released to the State earlier in the week, New York is still approximately $21 million short of the amount it would be eligible to receive under previous funding levels. The state has now received a total of approximately $191 million in LIHEAP funding for the current fiscal year. Last year, when the program was at a level of $1.7 billion, the state received about $212 million.

"With unemployment rising, temperatures dropping, and energy prices projected to soar, New Yorkers and others around the country need access to energy assistance more than ever. But the Administration's proposed $300 million cut to the vital Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program -- or LIHEAP -- means that New Yorkers and others around the nation will be left out in the cold," Clinton said.

"The change in seasons needs to be accompanied by a change of heart - so we are here today calling on the President and the House to reconsider this ill-timed cut."

"The additional $60.4 million in LIHEAP funding that New York State received this week will get a warm welcome - particularly from the thousands of New York families that will now be able to heat their homes without having to forgo other, basic household expenses - like buying groceries. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration still is not warming up to keeping the LIHEAP program at the previous funding level of $1.7 billion. That is why I will be continuing to fight to make certain that New York gets the additional $21 plus million that it would be eligible to receive under the $1.7 billion funding levels," Clinton said.

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