
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992                   TAG: 9203210195
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ATTORNEY GENERAL SETS HOUSE BANK INQUIRY

Attorney General William Barr appointed a retired judge Friday to determine whether the Justice Department should open a criminal investigation of the House bank scandal.

Barr appointed retired Circuit Judge Malcolm Wilkey to review the controversy involving 355 current or former House members who wrote bad checks.

House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., announced meanwhile that he was ending free prescription drugs for lawmakers, raising fees at the House gym, and reviewing other perquisites that have stirred anger at Congress' privileged lifestyle.

"I am determined to see to it that the management of the House is without criticism," he said.

A senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wilkey would have the power to subpoena witnesses and take testimony to a grand jury.

Also Friday, the House ethics committee agreed to consider amending the reported bad-check totals of lawmakers who can prove their deposits at the House Bank were not prpomptly credited. Several current and former members - including Defense Secretary Dick Cheney - have blamed at least some of their bad checks on slow postings of deposits.

by CNB