ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240009
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
DURING HIS 13 years in the House of Representatives, Democrat Rick Boucher of Abingdon has been an intelligent and effective catalyst for positive changes in Southwest Virginia's 9th District.
Far from being out of step with his constituents, as his opponent charges, Boucher has stepped out as a leader to help encourage the improvement of his mostly rural district's infrastructure for economic growth and educational opportunity. He also has worked hard on efforts to assure that the Information Revolution now overtaking the global economy won't leave his constituents, and others like them, behind.
Neither Patrick Muldoon, the Republican challenger, nor Tom Roberts, the Virginia Independent/Reform Party candidate, has made a case for the incumbent's rejection. We recommend his re-election.
Actually, Roberts isn't running against Boucher or Muldoon so much as to advance a single issue: the need for greater fiscal responsibility in federal government, including out-of-control entitlement programs. The fiscal betrayal of future generations ought to be discussed, and Roberts deserves credit for raising it. He is not, however, a realistic alternative to Boucher.
Neither is Muldoon, a first-year law student who offers the same old, same old rhetoric: Boucher is a liberal, out of touch with the interests of the conservative 9th.
In fact, Boucher has consistently voted with the tobacco industry and has won the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. That doesn't say much for him in our book, but is probably in tune with voters.
Muldoon says Boucher exaggerates the value of his efforts to bring in jobs and economic development. Maybe a tiny bit.
But federal funds secured by Boucher have helped install industrial parks throughout the district. These days, if you don't build the infrastructure, companies won't come. The congressman's "Showcasing Southwest Virginia" initiative, introducing federal agencies and major corporations to his district, also has helped attract investment. Sure, unemployment and sagging incomes remain big problems in the region. But absent Boucher's efforts, they would be worse.
In addition, Boucher is one of Congress' top experts in communications policy, on which he has exercised notable influence. His expertise helps generate lots of political-action-committee gifts from friends in the industry, as Muldoon rightly points out. But it also translates into educational improvements and potential growth opportunities for the district.
The thinking behind Boucher's efforts to link public schools and colleges via fiber-optic networks is that doing so can help reduce geography-based school disparities. He also promotes the ``electronic village'' model, pioneered in Blacksburg, with the goal of giving even the rural-most areas a leg up in coming computer-era advancements.
Boucher was an early advocate of efforts to introduce more competition into telecommunications, culminating in landmark legislation signed by the president this year. By spurring development of the "Information Superhighway" via private competition and investment, this legislation will have a huge impact nationwide - including in more isolated regions such as Southwest Virginia.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines KEYWORDS: POLITCS CONGRESS ENDORSEMENTby CNB