Continuing hot days are a stark reminder

With the mercury approaching season highs and most of the nation in a froth over the presidential election, few people are giving any thought to the coming winter -- which is why a conversation with David Fox is so ... chilling.
Fox is communications director of the Campaign For Home Assistance Energy and, as such, has the unenviable task of persuading newspapers around the country to focus on the needs of the 30 million Americans who can't afford to heat their homes in winter or cool them in summer.
While these individuals qualify for help under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the reality is that only 17 percent are receiving any benefits. Why? Because Congress is nowhere close to allocating the $7 billion to $10 billion to meet all the needs nationally.
Indeed, the rise in the cost of living over the past several years has negated the meager increases in funding from Congress.
If just 17 percent of those eligible are being served, what happens to the rest? According to Fox, local churches and family members are forced to step in to ensure that individuals who can't afford to pay the ever-increasing utility rates don't succumb to the stifling heat or freezing cold.
But even with such good intentions, people fall through the cracks. Thus, the summer deaths not too long ago of residents of Chicago whose apartments had become veritable ovens.
Basic necessities
The poor, the elderly and people with disabilities in America deserve the basic necessities of life. But they will only be provided if Congress and the White House recognize the nation's responsibility to this segment of the population.
While Fox bemoans the lack of adequate funding, he does acknowledge that gains, albeit minor, are being made.
In July, the House Appropriations Committee voted to spend $2 billion in fiscal 2005 on the energy assistance program, which reflects a $100 million increase from 2004. The increase can be released to states at the president's discretion. The remaining $1.9 million would be allocated as state block grants.
The money is contained in the huge $142.5 billion funding bill for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education departments.
The committee also approved $227 million for the home weatherization program that had previously been funded through the Department of the Interior.
The Senate version of the bill is being considered by the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
While the $2 billion was requested by President Bush, the energy assistance program needs $3.4 billion just to keep up with inflation.
We recognize that the federal budget is being stretched to the limit by the war on terrorism and the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan, but America's most needy must not be sacrificed.
Locally, from Nov. 1 of last year to August, the Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership received 63,000 calls for help, according to Vesna Vukasinovich, director of Operations and Compliance. Vukasinovich was with Fox during his recent visit to The Vindicator.
And with the price of natural gas doubling in the last couple of years -- there's no end in sight, Fox says -- the cost of heating a residence is expected to jump 10 to 20 percent nationally.
It is clear that the needy in this country face a bleak winter unless Congress does the right thing.