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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 22, 1995                   TAG: 9508220068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                 LENGTH: Medium

ON WORLD STAGE, HE'S QUIET PLAYER

FRANK WOLF may vote like a conservative, but human rights are at the heart of his efforts.

The travels of U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf to confront global misery have transformed him into a peculiar kind of Republican: a bleeding-heart conservative.

Wolf, who represents the Washington suburbs in Northern Virginia's 10th Congressional District, has built a modest local record by focusing on constituent services such as widening bridges and easing car-pool restrictions.

But a member of Wolf's staff candidly explains his priorities: ``He does transportation to stay in Congress. He is in Congress to do human rights.''

Wolf has made a habit of dropping in on the most wretched and dangerous corners of the world, trying to bring about change. He has been from Soviet prison camps to Ethiopia - 18 trips to famines, wars and prisons in 13 years.

``My voting record is very conservative,'' Wolf said, ``but on certain issues, my views have changed. I was never interested in hunger issues before. These trips have made me much more sensitive, compassionate ...''

``He is unique,'' said Rep. Tony P. Hall, a Democrat from Ohio, who sometimes travels with Wolf. ``He keeps going to places that nobody ever heard of, and he doesn't tell anybody. I have said to him, `Frank, you are unusual. Why don't you let people know what you are doing?' He says, `Well, it doesn't matter.'''

After a 1984 trip to El Salvador, Wolf headed a public-private relief program that delivered aid to 36,000 war refugees. After a 1989 trip to Sudan, he persuaded the Bush administration to transport food aid that fed tens of thousands of famine victims.

His travels abroad have been paid for by Christian relief groups and also by the federal government as a function of his membership on two congressional committees that focus on human rights and foreign aid.

Wolf said he does not want to have regrets upon his retirement, which won't be soon anyway.

``I don't want to be 70 years old and sitting on my rocking chair on my back porch and saying, `Gee, if I had only taken that trip to Chechnya, maybe I could have done something.'''

by CNB