U.S. Rep. Tom Latham says his party can capture the gas-price issue in the fall. What’s more, he said the GOP is standing on the right side of history with what he believes is a tide-changing troop surge in Iraq.

Latham, who represents Iowa’s sweeping 4th congressional district that runs from the Minnesota border down to the Des Moines area, faces Democrat Becky Greenwald of Perry in November.

U.S. Rep. Tom Latham

U.S. Rep. Tom Latham

In an interview with Iowa Independent, Latham said voters will trust the GOP to rein in gas prices.

“Absolutely, there’s no doubt about it,” Latham said. “It will be a very clear distinction between what we stand for and the other party stands for.”

Latham said he supports alternative energy development and conservation. But that’s only part of the mix. The United States also needs to go after more domestic supplies of oil and natural gas. His office has been sending out a battery of news releases and information to that effect.

America’s bill for imported oil is expected to be over $700 billion this year, Latham said. Latham supports drilling in the outer continental shelf and a small slice of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

He said U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is blocking efforts to pursue more domestic exploration of natural gas and oil.

“She has publicly said in an interview in the last day or so that she would not allow a vote in the House of Representatives for increased domestic energy production and people are very upset that they’re paying up to $4 a gallon at the pump,” Latham said.

He noted that agricultural costs and food prices are clearly linked to oil.

“Yes, people understand and they will, I’ll guarantee you, understand what the problem is here as far as increasing production, and that’s the leadership with Nancy Pelosi,” Latham said.

He said a large majority of the House would support more domestic drilling, but Pelosi has allegiances “with what a lot of people consider to be extreme environmentalists.”

Moving to Iraq, Latham, who has visited that region three times, says there is reason for optimism.

“The surge has worked as evidenced by the lack of violence in Iraq today,” Latham said. “The political side is not going as quickly as we’d like to see, but there is no question that the surge has been a security success.”

He said Afghanistan will get more attention because that’s were al-Qaeda has been pushed.

“In a campaign, I think a lot of the folks that did not think [the surge in Iraq] would work are obviously on the wrong side of history,” Latham said. And he expects it to play a role in the upcoming campaign.

“Certainly the global war on terror is going to be an issue.”