US arms sales to OPEC at risk over oil

WASHINGTON - A group of U.S. senators on Thursday will call on the Bush administration to use its leverage with OPEC to increase oil supplies or risk Congress holding up multimillion-dollar arms deals with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other members of the cartel.
"As Americans are paying more than ever to fill up their cars at the gas station, it is clear that oil production by OPEC members is below the capacity at which they could be producing," the lawmakers said in an advisory announcing a press conference in which they will release a letter to President George W. Bush asking him to pressure OPEC for more oil.
The Bush administration has notified Congress it plans to sell Saudi Arabia bomb-guidance kits worth about $120 million. The administration also wants to sell the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait advanced antimissile systems, as part of a potential $10 billion arms package to Gulf Arab states.
"The Bush administration has refused to be tough with so-called OPEC allies and in fact continues to provide huge arms deals, despite the economic pains taxpayers are feeling," the senators stated in the advisory.
The senators sending the letter were Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
The price of crude oil futures hit a record of almost $120 a barrel this week on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. average retail price for gasoline reached a record $3.56 per gallon on Thursday, according to travel group AAA.