Former Rep. Joe Kennedy fired back Friday at the House Energy chairman who is investigating whether politics, not charity, is behind Venezuela's offer to provide low-cost heating oil to needy Americans.

"When one country and one company are helping the least among us keep warm in the winter, that should be your committee's lowest priority for investigation and highest priority for praise," Kennedy wrote in a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas.

The former Democratic Massachusetts congressman heads the Boston-based nonprofit Citizens Energy Corp., which is helping to deliver the oil in several states.

Barton and Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., chairman of the subcommittee for oversight and investigations, on Wednesday wrote to Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, requesting all records pertaining to the program.

"Given President (Hugo) Chavez's clear anti-American sentiments, his current efforts must be viewed with concern he is attempting to politicize the debate over U.S. energy policy," Barton and Whitfield wrote.

Some Chavez critics contend the oil deal is a ploy to score political points and tweak the Bush administration. Relations between the two countries remain tense.

Kennedy asked Barton and Whitfield why they are singling out Citgo's charitable effort for investigation when other major oil companies also have operations in Venezuela.

"If you're truly interested in exploring the mix of oil and politics in Venezuela, it is curious that you focus exclusively on the one U.S. oil company that provides a benefit to the poor," Kennedy said.

Citgo has heating oil programs in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware and the Philadelphia area.

Many Northeast lawmakers have praised the Citgo program, particularly given this winter's high energy prices.

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