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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992                   TAG: 9203250246
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Short

WEDDLE SAYS BOUCHER ABUSES MAILS

Gary Weddle, who wants to run on the Republican ticket against 9th District Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, this fall, accused Boucher on Tuesday of abusing his congressional mailing privileges.

"We've always known Rick Boucher never met a tax increase he didn't like. Now, it appears he's never met a mailman he didn't like, either," Weddle said in a news release.

Boucher could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Weddle, a Radford city councilman, is competing with Lew Sheckler, a Radford University professor, and George Bell, a Blacksburg investment counselor, for the GOP congressional nomination.

In labeling Boucher "one of Washington's most wasteful junk mailers," Weddle cited a study released Monday by the National Taxpayers Union, which rated Boucher as 14th highest user of Congress' free mailing privileges.

According to the study, Boucher spent 82 cents per household on mailings into his district while the average congressmen spent 42 cents, Weddle said.

Boucher "showed up as the worst junk mailer in the whole state delegation," he said.

Calling Boucher out of touch with his constituents in Southwest Virginia, Weddle suggested that the mailing privilege should be turned around and citizens allowed to mail free to their congressmen, instead.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB