WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a twin attack Thursday, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said he doubts the Bush administration’s commitment to investigating high gas prices and rejected suggestions ethanol supply problems are partially to blame.

Gas prices are near the highs experienced last summer after hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted supplies from the Gulf of Mexico. OPEC officials say the price of oil will drop, but most U.S. analysts are pessimistic about the chances of significant drops in gas prices.

The price of gas impacts virtually every aspect of the U.S. economy. Higher gas prices increase the cost of shipping goods across the country. Harkin said the complaints he is hearing begin at the very start of the food supply chain.

“I heard a lot in Iowa this weekend when I was there, especially farmers getting their crops in, diesel prices, gasoline prices and of course fertilizer prices,” are up, Harkin said. “Once again, we’re confronting increases. Once again, we’re playing catch-up.”

President Bush has called for increased use of renewable fuels, including ethanol. Harkin said he does not believe the public calls for increased use are being matched by government funding and willpower.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned from President Bush it’s that there’s always a big disconnect between his rhetoric and his [actions],” Harkin said. He pointed to Bush’s call for increased renewable fuels research in this year’s state of the union speech. “And the very next day the Department of Energy announced it was slashing $28 million from biofuels research and laying off researchers. Here we go again. On Tuesday the president touted ethanol, then turned right around and suggested ethanol was partly to blame for rising gas prices. Someone’s getting him bad information.”

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist is considered a possible presidential candidate in 2008. In recent speeches, Frist echoed Bush’s comments on ethanol’s role in gas prices. Harkin said blaming ethanol is a lousy way to go about seeking an endorsement in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses.

“First of all, I was shocked to hear Sen. Frist say that in Iowa. If he is going to run for president he has probably now decided to bypass Iowa. I can’t see that that’s going to get him anywhere in our state or anywhere in the Midwest,” he said.

Harkin also rejected suggestions by some in Congress that the government dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency and place disaster response under the Department of Homeland Security’s aegis.

FEMA was roundly criticized for the botched handling of hurricane relief, particularly in New Orleans. But Harkin doesn’t think homeland security is the right place for such efforts, either. He said homeland security’s focus on national an international issues makes it ill-equipped to respond to disasters since such events are most often spread over small geographic areas.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com.