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

DATE: FRIDAY, September 23, 1994                   TAG: 9409230129
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

FAST URGES CONGRESS TO REFORM

But Boucher, an Abingdon Democrat, said Fast was misinterpreting the record. Boucher blasted Fast for launching an irrelevant, negative attack and predicted that Fast will lose as badly as Radford clothier Gary Weddle did in 1992, when Boucher carried every city and county in the 9th District.

Boucher has been in Congress for 12 years, as long as Fast believes any representative or senator should serve.

"A youngster can go from kindergarten to graduating from high school in 12 years. I think that any congressman that can't enact his ideas and programs in 12 years is a little bit too slow to learn," Fast said.

"We've got to return to a citizens' legislature. We've got to return to a Congress composed of people from all walks of life," Fast said. "We don't need folks up there that make a career of it."

Fast also wants to limit committee chairmen to six-year tenures and claims that Boucher voted against such a move at the start of the current session of Congress. Next week Fast will sign a pledge with other Republican challengers to support a series of reforms.

Boucher said Fast had misinterpreted his votes. Boucher said Weddle brought up that same Nov. 6, 1991, vote against a Republican-sponsored resolution to "express regret that Congress used taxpayer money to provide legal assistance to fight term limits."

The debate centered on whether the House lawyer was wrong to have written a brief opposing term limits. The vote wasn't a cut-and-dried referendum on term limits, however. Fast pledged he "will not use the power of Congress to fight the will of the people when the people desire term limits."

The second resolution Fast cited was a Jan. 5, 1993, vote against placing a six-year limit on terms of committee chairmen and ranking members. Boucher said the resolution was the Republican substitute to the House rules, which are voted on at the beginning of each new Congress. Such substitute rules are designed to boost the power of the minority party.

Boucher said he'd supported three "thoughtful and meaningful" congressional reform measures this year: campaign finance reform, lobbying reform and the Congressional Accountability Act, which requires Congress to comply with all federal laws and regulations. All three passed the House.

Keywords:
POLITICS