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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 23, 1993                   TAG: 9307230167
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

PARTISAN VOTE KEEPS POSTAL RECORDS SECRET

House Democrats cast aside Republican charges of cover-up Thursday and voted to keep records of an internal House Post Office investigation confidential in accordance with a top prosecutor's wishes.

The tally was 244-183, with 242 Democrats, one Republican and one independent voting to keep the material locked up, while 11 Democrats and 172 Republicans opposed the resolution.

In the Virginia delegation, all Republicans voted against the measure and all Democrats voted for it except for Rep. Leslie Byrne, D-Fairfax, who did not vote.

The votes were part of the political fallout from a court proceeding Monday, when former House Postmaster Robert V. Rota pleaded guilty to embezzlement and conspiracy. Rota said he had helped congressmen obtain embezzled post office funds for personal use.

Meanwhile, the White House denied allegations by former U.S. Attorney Jay B. Stephens that the administration delayed the investigation because Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., was needed in deficit-reduction negotiations.

Court records, when matched with public documents, indicated that Rostenkowski, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and former Rep. Joseph Kolter, D-Pa. may have been among those receiving the money.

by CNB