Congressmen say fuel prices will hit farmers hard

A lot of talk and no action. That’s what Iowa Congressman Tom Latham says is being done about the record high gasoline prices. The Alexander republican says he met with the U-S Energy Secretary yesterday on the issue and came away with nothing new — for which he blames the Clinton Administration.He says there’s a lot of frustration in Congress with what he calls the most critical issue facing agriculture.Latham supports using the 415-million dollars in U-S aid to OPEC nations as a bargaining chip in lowering gas prices, but he thinks the administration won’t go that far. Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell says the United States needs to keep the pressure on the oil-producing countries to ease their hold on the oil supply. Boswell agrees the high fuel prices generated by the tight supply are coming at a bad time for farmers. He says farmers going to the field are taking a “heck of a hit.”Boswell says the pressure should be especially at Kuwait and Saudia Arabia, two countries that received help from the U-S during the Gulf War.Boswell, who is a farmer, says increased use of corn-based ethanol would be one way to decrease the dependence on foreign oil. Boswell says he would support a mandate requiring the use of ethanol at Iowa gas pumps. He says he’s used it in his vehicles for years without problems.Boswell says opening up the strategic oil reserves of the United States would only be a short term solution that might not have much impact anyway.