Facing growing public anger over gas prices hovering around $4-dollars-a-gallon, lawmakers in Washington may be feeling the heat..

Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and other Democrats now want to target oil market speculators -- whom they accuse of driving up prices as well as their own profits.  Those oil prices fell for the third day in a row today, falling below $130-dollars a barrel for the first time in a month -- after President Bush lifted an executive order prohibiting off shore drilling on Monday.

Still some in the majority quickly took credit for the falling prices.  Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio claimed "speculators are reading the tea leaves," fearful Congress will come after them and their profits.

Others, however..call that merely a smoke-screen.

In a statement released on his website this afternoon, Ohio's Sen. George Voinovich renewed his call for what he's been referring-to as a second Declaration of Independence..this one from foreign oil, saying "we need to have a full-court press."

Voinovich says that means drilling anywhere in the country and off its shores companies believe they can find oil and natural gas -- as well as pursuing alternative energy sources.  He also says lawmakers should look at the speculation issue -- as well as finding ways to cut down on lawsuits filed by environmentalists aimed at preventing oil exploration.

But in the end, he predicts speculators will continue to keep prices up -- as long as they believe lawmakers in Washington aren't able to come together on a solution.