Arlen Specter: “And this issue I raise with some reluctance. But there is no doubt that if we face an embargo and if we face the Saudis…”

“And this issue I raise with some reluctance. But there is no doubt that if we face an embargo and if we face the Saudis joining Iraq in using oil as a weapon, Israel will be blamed and anti-Semitism, which now bubbles just a little below the surface in many parts of the world, will rise to the surface and exceed it. I think it is vital that the Congress establish a policy to be independent of OPEC oil. Today, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, there is a plant which converts sludge into diesel fuel. If we set our minds to it, we can use the billions of tons of coal to find an alternative source of oil and not put up with the arrogance and the chutzpah of the Saudis telling us to change our policy in response to their blackmail.”