Oil talks gain a human face > Mainer, 78, speaks to senators

WASHINGTON – As much of America readied to tune into the first presidential debate Tuesday to hear discussions on such issues as a national energy policy, a 78-year-old great-great-grandmother from Maine came to Washington to “put a human face” on the impact the federal government has on heating her home.

The woman, Callie Parker, lives in Little Dear Isle near the storm-battered rocks of the Atlantic Ocean, where she has weathered 78 winters. Her first trip to Washington – at government expense to testify at the request of Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine – was designed to have an average American affected by the home heating oil crisis explain the problem to the Senate.

“Well I just hope I can make a difference, just a little,” she said, twisting her manicured but weathered hands together in a front-row chair as she waited for senators to return from a floor vote so she could testify.

Parker, whose family settled Crotch Island near Stonington in 1764, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that living on $532 a month in Social Security and Supplemental Security Income is not enough to make ends meet. That’s especially true, she said, during harsh Maine winters when temperatures may plummet to 15 below zero regularly.

Parker told the senators that, to her, federal heating assistance is a matter of life and death.

“When I was younger I could handle the cold, but older people get hypothermia much quicker than young people,” she said. “If the furnace goes out in the middle of the night, the glass of water on your nightstand will be frozen by morning.”

Parker is one of thousands of Americans who are eligible for funding under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. Federal statistics show that Congress has authorized $2 billion a year but with the exception of 1993 has regularly appropriated much less.

While witnesses offered government and state statistics, elaborate Kinko graphics presentations and trend charts, Parker seemed relaxed, enjoying her time in the spotlight. She said she had only “a simple message” – to make sure the legislators understood that what they were doing had a direct impact on the lives of people throughout the Frost Belt.

“The story that Callie Parker told is repeated many times over throughout Maine and other parts of the country, where low-income families are hit with high fuel costs and limited means,” said Collins, who invited Parker through the Eastern Agency on Aging. Collins called LIHEAP assistance a “vital safety net.” The problems are not as pronounced in areas heated by natural gas or other means. In Maine, reserves are believed to be down two-thirds from the level they were at a year ago, government statistics show.

“I live very simply, and I don’t buy much. There isn’t much money left over to pay my heating bill,” Parker testified. She pointed out that last year – when there was a mild winter – she didn’t pay off her heating bill until the summer, thanks to the good graces of the local heating oil distributor.

Olivia A. Golden, assistant secretary of health and human services for children and families, shook Parker’s hand and thanked her for coming. In her testimony, Golden said there are regional problems with solving everyone’s heating problems easily, but the administration not only is sympathetic to their concerns but working hard to find solutions.

Golden said while Florida is a lot warmer than Maine, it has 12 times more low-income households, meaning that efforts by larger vendors to offer discounts can readily help more people in those areas of Florida that may get hit with a modest cold snap.

“In Maine, small mom-and-pop vendors, as opposed to large commercial vendors, provide about half of the fuel oil and kerosene for energy to low-income households,” Golden said. “The small, local vendors in Maine, by contrast, are less able to offer discounted prices.”

Sen. James M. Jeffords, R-Vt., the committee chairman, and others pressed the administration to accept and seek more funding for LIHEAP but didn’t draw a detailed response. Jeffords repeatedly has asked for complete funding, as has Collins.

Parker, who has been widowed for 11 years and lives alone, said she was appreciative of the work Collins has done for her state to draw attention to the problems faced by seniors. She called the senator, whom she had never met before coming to Washington, “caring” and someone who “appeared to be very sincerely involved” in the issue.

During her time in Washington, Parker was afforded overnight accommodations and had just a few hours Monday afternoon for some sightseeing. She chose to visit the eternal flame marking the grave site of President John F. Kennedy and look at the granite – which happened to come from a quarry near Little Dear Isle that was once in family hands.

As she tried to leave, Jeffords somewhat humorously pulled the reins and said he’d like to ask a question about whether she had taken advantage of any other federal assistance programs for homes, such as the weatherization program. Parker explained that one time, years ago, she had stripping put in her house, but it probably wasn’t of the best quality, and it was worn.

“We’ll get you something,” Jeffords said.