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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 5, 1995                   TAG: 9501050057
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

GOODLATTE HAS A LOT TO CELEBRATE THIS TIME

Bob Goodlatte jumped into the new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday with high hopes that commemorative coins - his most ballyhooed legislative accomplishment to date - are a thing of the past.

More than 100 GOP loyalists from Goodlatte's district, which stretches from Roanoke to Harrisonburg, traveled to Washington on three chartered buses to join in the festivities.

Goodlatte, a Roanoke County Republican, had much to celebrate. He has stepped onto the sophomore rung of the seniority ladder, which means that most of his 435 colleagues actually might remember his name. He also gets new digs, so now when he gazes out his window in the Cannon House Office Building, he sees the marble walls of the Library of Congress instead of rooftop air vents.

Most of all, he will be a beneficiary of the first GOP majority in the House of Representatives since Goodlatte, 42, was a tyke growing up in Massachusetts.

"We now are able to set the agenda and know that some of the things we want to accomplish will get done," he said.

Goodlatte will find himself right in the thick of things as House Republicans, led by Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, try to make good on their "Contract With America."

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Goodlatte will get a chance to throw his true-blue Republican support behind five of the 10 bills that make up the GOP blueprint for change. The committee will consider term limits, a balanced budget amendment, a crime bill, tort reform and compensation for landowners whose property is affected by environmental regulations.

The high-profile position will mean that Goodlatte will have more to take credit for than a Thomas Jefferson commemorative coin. After his first year in office, aides pointed to Goodlatte rounding up GOP co-sponsors for the coin bill as an example of his budding effectiveness.

Goodlatte, who welcomes the responsibility that comes with the majority party, said he was not concerned that his votes on the GOP contract might prove so controversial that folks back home will get mad and potential challengers will get ideas about running against him in 1996.

"My view on these issues is [that they are] something that is generally popular in the 6th District," said Goodlatte, who was unopposed last year.

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB