Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., greets supporters after Saturday's rally in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo. ? Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama used a campaign fundraiser Saturday to remind about 3,000 supporters of their role in the balance of power in the U.S. Congress.

“We have 51 votes in the Senate, and to have a veto-proof majority the next time we send a bill to end the war, we’re going to need 16 more votes,” Obama told the crowd gathered at the downtown Marriott hotel.

“So I need everybody to take a look at how your senators are voting and how your congressmen are voting. We are 16 votes away from ending this war.”

Obama was referring to President Bush’s veto earlier this month of a $124.2 billion bill that would have funded the war in Iraq, among other things, but demanded troops begin coming home Oct. 1. Republicans agreed to uphold the veto, and Democrats were forced back to the drawing board.

The Kansas City fundraiser was the Illinois senator’s second in as many days in Missouri. He was in St. Louis on Friday for a public $50-a-ticket appearance and for a private event.

During his half-hour speech, Obama also briefly touched on his proposal for universal health care, which he said would be at least in part driven by $75 billion in savings from improved technology in the field.

“If we move to the same kind of technologies that exist in every other industry, we save money. We can save $75 billion a year in improving the quality of our care, and we take that $75 billion and make sure that every single American has health care,” he said to cheering and applause.

Obama also criticized the Bush administration for what he called “its lack of energy policy” and said he wants to encourage Detroit to make more energy-efficient vehicles.

“If we increase fuel-efficient standards by 40 percent, we would have to import zero oil from the Middle East,” Obama said. “We could stop sending $800 million a day to some of the most hostile nations on earth.”

And, he touched on his ties to the Kansas City area, reminding supporters to great applause that his mother was from neighboring Kansas.

“I knew we’re going to get some Kansans here.”