By Mary Beth Martin

By Mary Beth Martin

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

Citizens of the 10th District may not realize that Frank Wolf, their U.S. Congressman, is recognized as an international leader in human rights and religious freedom.

Wolf has made 31 trips to foreign counties in the past 15 years, either to third world countries such as Ethiopia, Chechnya, Romania and Sudan or to European cities hosting human rights conferences. He has tried to make penalties more severe against businesses who know they are importing prison-made products. In his office, Wolf keeps golf socks made by prisoners from the 1989 Tiananmen Square Demonstration, a memento He gathered off a clothesline at the infamous Bering Prison Number One.

Background

Wolf, who has no previous background in human rights, attended Georgetown Law School, was employed by the Department of the Interior, worked on “the Hill” and practiced administrative law for a short while representing Gerber Baby Food and John Deere companies. He was elected 10th District Congressman in 1980 and is on the Appropriations, Transportation and Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Committees.

At a recent rally at the post office in Washington, Sheila Sweet, Rappahannock resident and world traveler, thanked Wolf for his humanitarian efforts. Soon after she said he sent her a copy of his Tibetan report to Congress. Walter Longyear, chairman of the Rappahannock Republican Party, said that Wolf is one of the least wealthy members of Congress.

His commitment to human rights extends to his family. Wolfs five children have all gone individually on international mission trips, one teaching in Romania for a year.

- . Human Rights

Wolf, 58, said his introduction to human rights and religious persecution issues began in 1984 when he was campaigning in