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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 18, 1992                   TAG: 9203180185
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG and CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOUCHER HAD 1 BOUNCED CHECK

The error occurred when Boucher transferred his monthly paycheck from the House bank to a bank back home in Washington County, and his account was overdrawn for one day.

"It looks like I sent the check to the Abingdon bank a day too early," Boucher said by telephone from his Washington office. His bank statement did not reflect the overdraft.

Boucher said he learned of the mistake Tuesday afternoon when he checked with the House Committee on Standards.

It didn't take long for the Republican Party to criticize the Democratic congressman for his mistake.

Even before Boucher's press secretary faxed a statement to reporters, one arrived from George Bell, who is vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Boucher for the 9th Congressional District seat. Bell said he had learned of Boucher's banking error Tuesday afternoon from a Richmond newspaper reporter.

Gary Weddle, a Radford city councilman also seeking the GOP nomination, said, "This proves that Rick Boucher is a part of this elite group that is running Congress. They write their own rules."

Bell said the fact that Boucher bounced a check for $4,000 is "irrelevant. We all have bounced a check or two." But Bell, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, charged that Boucher consistently voted against full disclosure.

Asked about the votes in a phone interview, Bell said he was not referring to a specific vote. He accused Boucher of behind-the-scenes lobbying of other Democrats against full disclosure.

Boucher, however, called Bell's statement a "complete falsehood." Boucher said he had been lobbying Democrats to endorse a full accounting of the banking scandal. He said he had advocated disclosure long before his personal banking record came into question.

The House bank was more akin to a check-cashing service than a bank, because it was not regulated by the government.

Boucher said he used the bank only to hold his paycheck before transferring it his own bank.

He had tried, when he first became a congressman, to receive a check that he could endorse to his bank at home. "They told me I had to use the House bank," he said. "It always was a nuisance. It was always inconvenient."

Boucher said he usually takes care of his banking matters at the end of the month. On July 31, 1990, the House bank honored a $4,000 check that Boucher had deposited in the Abingdon bank. Boucher's checking account was overdrawn until the following day.

Three other Virginia congressmen said on Tuesday they've gained confirmation from the House ethics committee that they're not accused of overdrawing their checking accounts at the House bank.

Reps. Thomas Bliley, R-Richmond; L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County; and Norman Sisisky, D-Petersburg, said they learned that their names were not on a list of House members who overdrew accounts.

But Rep. Owen Pickett, D-Virginia Beach, wasn't celebrating after discovering that he had overdrawn his account in the House bank by $19.71 for two days three years ago.

Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, said Tuesday he was still combing his banking records as far back as 1989, and that he thought his record was clean.

Landmark New Service and The Associated Press contributed to this story.