we must follow up on this action by fully funding the liheap program. on october 28, the department health and human services released $1.7 billion for the liheap program. this is a start but we need another $3 billion to ensure that we sustain level funding from last year. depending on how and what the final appropriations are for the fiscal year 2012, it is important to recognize that we will need over $1 billion to fully fund the liheap program. mr. president, i believe that seniors should not have to choose between paying for medication and their heating bills. families should not have to choose between putting food on the table or keeping their furnace on at night. and children should always have a warm home to sleep in at night. the liheap program is targeting those families that are most in need. in fact, the average household served by the liheap program in minnesota had an income of $16,000, and 85% of the homes served by the liheap program included at least one senior, a person with disability or a child urn the age of 18. -- child under the a

and as most of my colleagues know, the liheap program is the low-income heating energy assistance program. here is the problem that we face, mr. president. we are in the midst of a horrendous recession. unemployment is sky-high. in many cases, wages are in decline. poverty is creatio increasing. and at the same time, the price for home heating oil and propane gas is going up. according to the energy information administration, average expenditures for households that heat with oil or propane are forecast to be higher than in any previous winter. and heating oil prices are currently average -- averaging about $3.90 a gallon. so what people in the northeast, people all over this country are looking at is, are the highest home heating oil prices that we have ever seen coming in the midst of a terrible recession, with unemployment high and wages in decline. in the state of have th vermontg oil prices are already 34% higher than they were at the same time last year. they are currently $3.82 a gallon compared to $2.85 a gallon last year. and what is happening is that because of cuts, significan

around in jets and they won't pay nothing and we got to then talk about cutting home heating oil, liheap program, food stamp program. i mean, how do you sleep at night? it's amazing to me. shocking. shocking. i'm sure all of them look at each other and say, well, we earned it. you can't tell me that you earned that. this is immaterial. some people want to say they work hard. this is not true. what they do is they take all that money that they make and come down here and get us to argue for loopholes for them and $50 million is spent lobbying congress, $130 million spent to giving donations to campaigns. 94% as of 2008, 94% of all candidates with the most money win the election. and about 261 members of congress and only 535 of us, are millionaires. the average that work here -- the average worth here is $700,000. and i'm not one of those rich guys. i live on the money that my constituents pay me and i'm working 24/7. i go to the grocery store and i know how much bread costs. what i'm saying is to whom much is given, much is expected. and fr america, a nation that i love so much, has a military t

make no mistake, there are real cuts here, including hard cuts to vital programs like the liheap program, the low income energy assistance program. still, i believe this legislation has been improved. in terms of labor and health and human services and education, the agreement restores $2.9 billion in cuts made in the chairman's draft. these restorations are key investments in job creation, education and the health and the well-being of families that will lead us to recovery. we know especially as over 13 million of our fellow americans look for work, that investments in human capital, like job training and re-employment services are part of the core essential role for government. they help responsible people succeed, and i am pleased that this agreement restores the 74% cut to job training programs that was proposed in the original chairman's bill which was never considered before the committee. health care is no longer shortchanged. with an aging population and a nursing shortage before us, we need to make wise investments in our health work force. the programs that help to train prima

make no mistake, there are real cuts here, including hard cuts to vital programs like the liheap programe low income energy assistance program. still, i believe this legislation has been improved. in terms ofabor and health and human services and education, the agreement restores $2.9 billion in cuts made in the chairman's draft. these restorations are key investments in job creation, education and the health and the well-being of families that will lead us to recovery. we know especially as over 13 million of our fellow americans look for work, that investments in human capital, like job training and re-employment services are part of the core essential role for government. they help responsible people succeed, and i am pleased that this agreement restores the 74% cut to job training programs that was proposed in the original chairman's bill which was never considered before the committee. health care is no longer shortchanged. with an aging population and a nursin shortage before us, we need to ke wise investments in our health work force. the programs that help to train primary care d

budget, we need to look at wasteful spending, at duplicative programs and at subsidies to industries that no longer need our help. and liheap energy assistance for low-income families, doesn't fall under any of these categories. it's not a frivolous program. it's a program that ensures that the vulnerable citizens in new hampshire and across this country are not forgotten and left in the cold this winter. i've been hearing from people across new hampshire about the difficulties they're going to face if this funding isn't available and available soon, and i want to just share one of these stories. it's the story of kim brandelini from nashua. in 2010, kim suffered a series of strokes that left her disabled and unable to work. liheap funds covered nearly all of her monthly fuel costs then, last year. but this year, because of the cuts, she's on the waiting list. she doesn't know how she's going to pay to heat her home. she already owes the oil company $600, and last year she had to pay $6,000 to replace a broken boiler. kim's only 44 years old. she's raising a son all by herself, and previously she served for 14 years in the

program be adequately funded this year. mr. speaker, the president and his budget submission this year proposed to cut liheap funding by 50%. i urge our appropriators to do better than that this year because there are a lot of people in the northeast that need this funding this year. i urge support for adequate funding for low-income energy assistance. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker i rise today to speak about human rights day. this past saturday i was honored to speak in commemoration of human rights day, a day chosen to honor the universal declaration of 450uman rights. mrs. davis: the declaration was the world's first bill of rights . when many from all corners of the globe were fighting for basic freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear and repression, the declaration assured them that they were fighting the good fight. and they were on the right side of history. today i stand to recognize the men and women who are still fighting