  Recent observations of quasars, Mrk 335 and the HST quasar composite
spectrum, have indicated that many of them have remarkably soft ionizing
continua (fnu ~ nu^-2.0, 13.6 eV -- 100 eV). We point out that the number of E
> 54.4 eV photons is insufficient to create the observed strengths of the He II
emission lines. While the numbers of photons which energize C IV 1549 and O VI
1034 are sufficient, even the most efficiently emitting clouds for these two
lines must each cover at least 20% -- 40% of the source. If the typical quasar
ionizing continuum is indeed this soft, then we must conclude that the broad
emission line clouds must see a very different (harder) continuum than we see.
The other viable possibility is that the UV -- EUV SED is double-peaked, with
the second peaking near 54 eV, its Wien tail the observed soft X-ray excess.
