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Subject: Rep. Mrazek withdraws from Senate race
Keywords: politics, usa federal, government, people, human interest
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 8:11:15 PDT
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	NEW YORK (UPI) -- Rep. Robert J. Mrazek, D-N.Y., hard hit by the House
rubber check scandal, Thursday withdrew as a candidate for the
Democratic nomination to the Senate.
	In announcing he was quitting the race, Mrazek cited a ``political
environment'' that would prevent him from discussing real issues with
voters.
	Mrazek, 46, who has represented Long Island's North Shore
congressional district for more than nine years, was one of the biggest
writers of overdrafts at the House of Representatives Bank, according to
the recent House Ethics Committee investigation, which said he wrote 972
bounced checks.
	The congressman had insisted his abuse of House banking privileges
did not violate the law or House banking rules, which permitted
overdrafts up to one month's salary without penalty. Associates said he
resisted withdrawal from the Senate race because that would appear to be
an admission of guilt.
	However, it became obvious in recent weeks that the banking scandal
had seriously reduced his already slim chances in the race for the
Senate nomination against such better known candidates as state Attorney
General Robert Abrams, former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, New York City
Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
	``After discussions with my supporters throughout the state of New
York, I have concluded that in the current political environment, I will
encounter great difficulty in talking about the real issues which matter
to the people of New York,'' he said in a statement issued through his
Manhattan campaign headquarters.
	``I entered public service in order to affect positive change, and I
am proud of my accomplishments. I am grateful to those who have so
enthusiastically supported my candidacy,'' Mrazek said. But he added, 
``Despite their encouragement and belief in my efforts, I find that my
Senate candidacy is not viable at this time.''
	Mrazek said he looked forward to making a contribution to public life
``in many different ways'' in the years ahead. The five-term congressman
passed up a re-election campaign to run for the Senate and his term is
up next Jan. 3. Before he was elected to the House, Mrazek was a small
businessman in Huntington, N.Y., and a member of the Suffolk County
Legislature.
	He claimed he had a negative balance in his House bank account in
only two of the 39 months covered by the House Ethics Committee
investigation. In the other 37 months, he said, deposit of his House
salary cleared the overdrafts on his account for the previous month in
accord with bank rules.
	``It was like an American Express account you had to reconcile at the
end of every month,'' he explained recently. ``Those were the rules of
that bank. And I abided by those rules in every way. Always.''
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