November 1, 1977
Page 36191
Mr. MAGNUSON. Mr. Mr President, I believe the senator from Oklahoma did point this out, but the Senator from Maine is ill and in the hospital. We hope it is nothing serious, but he could not be here today. He did have some remarks he wished to make about this bill and it involves the $200 million for the Community Service Administration which will provide emergency energy assistance to low income persons this winter and the funds will go for a continuation of the special crisis intervention program, which is called SCIP, which was developed by this body last winter.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD the senator's remarks on this program, and an attached letter.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
STATEMENT BY SENATOR MUSKIE
The supplemental appropriation we are now considering includes $200 million for the Community Services Administration to provide emergency energy assistance to low income persons this winter. These funds will go for a continuation of the Special Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) which was developed in this body last winter.
Just last month, my Subcommittee on intergovernmental Relations, which has just concluded an examination of the nation's preparedness for the coming winter, recommended that the SCIP program be continued for another winter.
And last week, the Administration threw its support behind this supplemental appropriation for the CSA. In a letter to the distinguished Senator from Washington (Mr. MAGNUSON), James T. McIntyre, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget said this appropriation would help the Administration carry out its commitment to assist low income Americans this winter with fuel bills they cannot afford to pay. A letter I have just received from Deputy Secretary O'Leary reiterates the Administration's support for this measure. I ask that a copy of this letter be printed in the RECORD at the conclusion of this statement.
Mr. President, last winter the SCIP program provided the same amount as is in this appropriation — $200 million — to help the poor and the near poor pay the cost of keeping warm. According to testimony my subcommittee heard, more than two million were certified for SCIP payments, and the states have obligated about 80 percent of their SCIP allocations to needy recipients.
While available evidence suggests that SCIP was generally successful, it was not perfect, For one thing, the program last winter came into existence too late — with the assistance not actually going out until summer. By acting today we will be correcting that critical deficiency of last winter's program.
Second, last winter we included a prohibition against any SCIP funds going for program administration. That prohibition was included to insure that all funds went to the needy. But it resulted in administrative delays in getting the assistance out to eligible applicants. So this new appropriation includes no such prohibition.
Finally, last winter this program was not as well targeted as it might have been. While funds went only to poor and near poor applicants, funds went into states experiencing normal or above normal temperatures — instead of being concentrated only in those states suffering below normal temperatures, where the assistance would have done the most good. This deficiency, too, will be corrected this year.
Let me describe how this winter's program will operate. Two hundred million dollars will be appropriated to the Community Services Administration for use through the coming winter. The funds will not flow automatically to the states according to a set formula, as did last spring's appropriation. Rather, they will be used to provide assistance to eligible persons faced with a specific emergency situation. The discretion to determine the circumstances which constitute an emergency is vested in the Administrator of CSA, after consultation with the Secretary of the Department of Energy.
The approach — of treating specific emergencies rather than simply providing assistance to all who qualify — was selected because we are putting this program on line and ready to operate before the winter begins. This broad authority will allow this program to be used to meet the variety of energy related problems that are likely to arise this winter. The committee report includes some general guidelines for the CSA Administrator in this regard. She is urged for example, to take into account such factors as temperatures, fuel costs and unemployment. But, they are nothing more than guidelines. They do not offer specific thresholds or criteria for determining an emergency.
The Administrator must carefully monitor the situation within each State. She must take into account requests made by State and local officials. She must determine the existence of emergencies not only when they occur, but I encourage her to develop techniques to identify such emergencies before they occur.
In short, we are asking CSA, as we did after last winter's trauma, to take on a difficult job, but one that offers the best hope for those in our society for whom winter is a bleak prospect indeed.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY,
Washington, D.C.,
October 31, 1977.
Hon. EDMUND MUSKIE,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations,
Committee on Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Secretary Schlesinger is vitally concerned that the U.S. Government take all necessary actions ahead of time to prepare for possible energy emergencies this winter. To this end, he set up an interagency task force for winter energy emergency planning, the progress and recommendations of which David Hardin and I reported to your Subcommittee on September 21, 1977.
I understand there is an amendment to H.R. 9375, the FY 78 supplemental appropriations bill, which contains a proposal that would provide $200 million for emergency assistance this winter.
I understand that under this proposal the Community Services Administration would convey the funds to the states, that the assistance would be targeted to states most in need in the event of specific emergency conditions, and that any unused funds would revert to the Treasury if not needed. I support this proposal as an interim measure, and agree with you that such a program should be in place ahead of possible energy related emergencies this winter in which costs for heating fuels may become unmanageable for some individuals.
While we support this proposal as an interim measure for this winter, I want to reiterate our support for rapid and favorable consideration of the Administration's proposed emergency assistance legislation.
The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is no objection from the standpoint of the Administration's program to the submission of this letter.
Sincerely,
JOHN F. O'LEARY,
Deputy Secretary.