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Statement by the Press Secretary: LIHEAP (7/25/00)

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The Briefing Room
                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                    July 25, 2000


                        STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

     President Clinton today directed the Department of Health and Human
Services to release $41.75 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance
(LIHEAP) emergency funds for eight states that have been affected by the
heat wave in the South and Southwest, and to help with fuel costs in Alaska
in light of the recent fisheries disaster that has caused severe problems
for low-income Alaskans.

     The following Southern and Southwestern states will receive a total of
$35 million:  Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South
Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.  Temperatures in these eight states have
been much higher than normal, posing grave risks to the elderly, the very
young, the disabled and the ill.

     States can use the funds to pay cooling bills, buy air conditioners,
or provide other means of assistance to help low-income families and
individuals.  The $35 million is allocated to the eight states that have
been most affected by the extreme heat, based on the severity of the heat
wave and the number of low-income households in the state.

     Today?s LIHEAP release also includes $6.75 million for low-income
individuals in Alaska who have been affected by the recent fisheries
disaster.  Record low salmon runs have prompted Governor Tony Knowles to
declare a disaster for parts of Western Alaska.  Low-income Alaskans living
in this region depend on salmon both for subsistence and for their primary
source of income.  Because these low-income Alaskans are unable to purchase
fuel supplies in the summer season, as they normally would, the
Administration is releasing these funds today, rather than waiting until
later in the year when frozen rivers and other transportation problems
associated with extreme cold make the cost of shipping fuel to this region
far higher.

     LIHEAP helps eligible families pay the costs of cooling their homes in
the summer, and heating and insulating their homes in the winter.  This is
the first release of LIHEAP emergency funds made available under the FY
2000 Emergency Supplemental Act.  The Emergency Supplemental Act
replenished the emergency fund which had been exhausted in response to oil
price increases this past winter.

     The state allocations follow (these totals include funds that HHS will
provide directly to tribes in these states): Alabama, $5,852,502; Alaska,
$6,750,000; Arkansas $994,885; Georgia, $4,679,843; Louisiana, $4,215,913;
Mississippi $2,812,167; South Carolina, $1,250,024; Tennessee, $826,224;
Texas, $14,368,442.

                                    30-30-30


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