Wichita ? U.S. farmers have rallied some congressional support behind claims Australian wheat was sold to Iraq at inflated prices and that money was then given secretly to Saddam Hussein’s family to maintain trade.

The Australian Wheat Board, a monopoly company that markets all Australian wheat overseas, has strongly denied the accusations, raised in June by the lobbying group U.S. Wheat Associates.

But, with negotiations under way on a free trade agreement with Australia and the United Nations’ oil-for-food humanitarian program with Iraq set to end on Nov. 21, lawmakers from the nation’s farm states are now urging President Bush to investigate the claims.

“Insofar as our nation is contributing so heavily to Iraq’s recovery, it is of critical interest to U.S. taxpayers that all funds devoted to Iraqi reconstruction be used efficiently and effectively and that any purchase be at reasonable prices,” Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said in an Oct. 22 letter to Bush.

Daschle was joined by Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; and Conrad Burns, R-Mont. They urged Bush to discuss the matter with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

As of Friday, they had yet to receive a response from the White House, said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for Harkin’s office.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., has also called on U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoelick to “consider this matter fully” when negotiating the U.S.-Australian Free Trade Agreement.

Australian contract

At the center of the controversy is an Australian contract approved by the U.N.’s Security Council in January to sell 500,000 metric tons of Australian wheat in Iraq at nearly twice the market price. The Australians later sold an additional 800,000 metric tons of wheat to Iraq under two additional contracts.

The Australian Wheat Board has said the higher price reflects the added costs of transportation and distribution in Iraq. They contend American wheat growers are simply desperate to break into a market they once deserted.

“I think those allegations are absolutely outrageous and quite appalling,” Australian Federal Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said in June.

Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile’s spokesman said the government had been aware for some time that farmers were gathering congressional support for their bogus allegation.

“It’s nothing new, it’s absurd, outrageous and we have conveyed that to the U.S. administration who understand its bogus nature,” the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. “They haven’t got any evidence because there is none and we don’t believe anyone will treat it with credibility.”

The Australian wheat trade with Iraq had been controlled by the U.N. for 12 years since international sanctions were imposed, the spokesman said.

Kansas’ role

Absent from the list of lawmakers who expressed concerns to Bush were the Republican senators from Kansas, the nation’s largest wheat-producing state. Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts are leading their own effort within the U.S. Senate regarding the Australian wheat, their offices said Friday.

“Senator Roberts felt the Daschle letter required a little more research before making the accusations it did,” said Sarah Ross, a spokeswoman for Roberts. Roberts also did not agree with the “tone of the letter” given that President Bush was to meet with Howard at the time of its release, she said.

The Kansas Wheat Commission said the price of the Australian wheat delivered to Iraq came to about $8 per bushel, at a time when U.S. wheat was available for just more than $4 per bushel at export locations, and Argentine and Black Sea wheat was even cheaper.

“That is history. But we are coming into a situation right now where it is rather disturbing,” said David Frey, administrator of the Kansas Wheat Commission. “We are hoping by Nov. 22, the U.S. will get a fair shake on this stuff and be able to compete for business.”

Iraq typically buys about 3 million metric tons of wheat each year. Before the first Gulf War, the United States was supplying at least a third of the wheat Iraq bought, according to the Wheat Commission.