THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                          (Chicago, Illinois)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     August 3, 1999

               PRESIDENT CLINTON RELEASES SECOND ROUND OF
                EMERGENCY FUNDS TO RESPOND TO HEAT WAVE

President Clinton today directed the Department of Health and Human Services to release $55 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) emergency funds for nine states that have suffered the effects of the ongoing heat wave. Funds will go to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

On July 12, $100 million in LIHEAP funds were made available to the District of Columbia and 16 states, primarily on the Eastern Seaboard and parts of the Midwest.

The nine states designated today, in the central region of the nation, were not among the states receiving emergency funds in July. Today's release goes to states that have experienced excessively hot temperatures in the past two weeks, both in absolute terms and when compared to the average temperatures for the same period over time.

These LIHEAP funds will help low-income Americans pay for costs associated with home cooling, including the purchase of air conditioners and fans and payment of electricity bills. LIHEAP also helps pay for home heating costs in times of winter cold emergencies.

State allocations are as follows:

Illinois $15,958,676; Indiana $7,143,601; Iowa $3,498,425; Kansas $3,307,073; Kentucky $7,749,823; Minnesota $3,080,093; Missouri $7,637,125; Nebraska $2,134,712; and Wisconsin $4,490,472.

On July 12 the President authorized the release of funds to: Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

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