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Rick Boucher
Frederick Carlyle Boucher (/ˈbaʊtʃər/; born August 1, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district from 1983 to 2011. The district, which is massively rural, covers the majority of southwest Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his bid for re-election by Republican Morgan Griffith in 2010.
Boucher is a native of Abingdon, Virginia, where he currently lives. He earned his BA from Roanoke College where he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He has practiced law on Wall Street initially as an associate at Milbank Tweed in the firm's New York City office, and later in Virginia. Prior to his election to Congress, he served for seven years as a member of the Senate of Virginia, initially taking office in 1975, after defeating conservative incumbent George M. Warren Jr. to win the Democratic nomination for the seat. He is a former member of the Law and Justice Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Board of Directors of the First Virginia Bank of Damascus, Virginia, and the Board of Directors of Client Centered Legal Services of Southwest Virginia. He also formerly served on the Advisory Board of Virginia Cares Inc.
Boucher was first elected to Congress in 1982, defeating 16-year Republican incumbent Bill Wampler by 1,100 votes. He was narrowly reelected in 1984, defeating Delegate Jefferson Stafford by four points, even as Ronald Reagan carried the 9th in a landslide. However, he was completely unopposed for a third term in 1986, and was reelected 11 more times without serious difficulty.
Boucher remained very popular in his district even as its socially conservative tint made it friendlier to Republicans. The GOP won most of the area's seats in the Virginia General Assembly in 2001, and has held them ever since. From 2002 to 2006, he fended off three reasonably well-funded Republican challengers with relative ease. In 2002, he defeated state delegate Jay Katzen with 66 percent of the vote. In 2004, he defeated NASCAR official Kevin Triplett with 59 percent of the vote even as George W. Bush easily carried the district. In 2006, he defeated state delegate Bill Carrico with 68 percent of the vote. He was reelected unopposed in 2008 even as John McCain carried the district with his largest margin in the state. It was generally thought that Boucher would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
In 2010 Boucher faced his strongest opponent to date in House of Delegates Majority Leader Morgan Griffith. Boucher charged that Griffith lived outside of the 9th (Griffith's home in Salem was indeed just outside the 9th's borders), though members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent. However, it was not enough to overcome Griffith's attacks that Boucher was an ally of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Ultimately, Griffith unseated Boucher with 51 percent of the vote to Boucher's 46 percent. No Democrat has crossed the 40 percent mark in the district since Boucher left office.
Boucher served in the House Democratic leadership as an assistant whip from 1985 to 2010.
Boucher has been active on Internet-related legislation, including cosponsoring the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. He chaired the Science Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology and through hearings oversaw the transition of the Internet from a National Science Foundation managed government research project (known as NSFnet) to the private sector. In that role, he authored the legislation which permitted the first commercial use of the Internet. His proposals to promote competition in the cable and local telephone industries contributed to the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.[citation needed]
Boucher originated the House Internet Caucus and served as its co-chairman (1996-2011).[citation needed] He also authored the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA) legislation and introduced the FAIR USE Act. He was named Politician of the Year for 2006 by the Association of American Libraries' Library Journal, largely due to his efforts to protect the fair use doctrine and expand Internet technologies to rural areas.
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Rick Boucher
Frederick Carlyle Boucher (/ˈbaʊtʃər/; born August 1, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district from 1983 to 2011. The district, which is massively rural, covers the majority of southwest Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his bid for re-election by Republican Morgan Griffith in 2010.
Boucher is a native of Abingdon, Virginia, where he currently lives. He earned his BA from Roanoke College where he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He has practiced law on Wall Street initially as an associate at Milbank Tweed in the firm's New York City office, and later in Virginia. Prior to his election to Congress, he served for seven years as a member of the Senate of Virginia, initially taking office in 1975, after defeating conservative incumbent George M. Warren Jr. to win the Democratic nomination for the seat. He is a former member of the Law and Justice Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Board of Directors of the First Virginia Bank of Damascus, Virginia, and the Board of Directors of Client Centered Legal Services of Southwest Virginia. He also formerly served on the Advisory Board of Virginia Cares Inc.
Boucher was first elected to Congress in 1982, defeating 16-year Republican incumbent Bill Wampler by 1,100 votes. He was narrowly reelected in 1984, defeating Delegate Jefferson Stafford by four points, even as Ronald Reagan carried the 9th in a landslide. However, he was completely unopposed for a third term in 1986, and was reelected 11 more times without serious difficulty.
Boucher remained very popular in his district even as its socially conservative tint made it friendlier to Republicans. The GOP won most of the area's seats in the Virginia General Assembly in 2001, and has held them ever since. From 2002 to 2006, he fended off three reasonably well-funded Republican challengers with relative ease. In 2002, he defeated state delegate Jay Katzen with 66 percent of the vote. In 2004, he defeated NASCAR official Kevin Triplett with 59 percent of the vote even as George W. Bush easily carried the district. In 2006, he defeated state delegate Bill Carrico with 68 percent of the vote. He was reelected unopposed in 2008 even as John McCain carried the district with his largest margin in the state. It was generally thought that Boucher would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
In 2010 Boucher faced his strongest opponent to date in House of Delegates Majority Leader Morgan Griffith. Boucher charged that Griffith lived outside of the 9th (Griffith's home in Salem was indeed just outside the 9th's borders), though members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent. However, it was not enough to overcome Griffith's attacks that Boucher was an ally of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Ultimately, Griffith unseated Boucher with 51 percent of the vote to Boucher's 46 percent. No Democrat has crossed the 40 percent mark in the district since Boucher left office.
Boucher served in the House Democratic leadership as an assistant whip from 1985 to 2010.
Boucher has been active on Internet-related legislation, including cosponsoring the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. He chaired the Science Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology and through hearings oversaw the transition of the Internet from a National Science Foundation managed government research project (known as NSFnet) to the private sector. In that role, he authored the legislation which permitted the first commercial use of the Internet. His proposals to promote competition in the cable and local telephone industries contributed to the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.[citation needed]
Boucher originated the House Internet Caucus and served as its co-chairman (1996-2011).[citation needed] He also authored the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA) legislation and introduced the FAIR USE Act. He was named Politician of the Year for 2006 by the Association of American Libraries' Library Journal, largely due to his efforts to protect the fair use doctrine and expand Internet technologies to rural areas.