Rick Boucher | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 9th district |
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In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2011 |
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Preceded by | William Wampler |
Succeeded by | Morgan Griffith |
Personal details | |
Born | August 1, 1946 Abingdon, Virginia |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Amy Boucher |
Residence | Abingdon, Virginia |
Alma mater | Roanoke College University of Virginia School of Law |
Occupation | Attorney |
Religion | Methodist |
Frederick Carlyle "Rick" Boucher ( /ˈbaʊtʃər/ bow-chər; born August 1, 1946) is the former U.S. Representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district, serving from 1983 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
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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 law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He has practiced law on Wall Street in New York and in Virginia. Prior to his election to Congress, he served for seven years as a member of the Senate of Virginia.
In May 2011, Mr. Boucher joined prominent Washington law firm Sidley Austin and will be leading their government strategies practice.[1] The Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), an industry advocacy group, also announced that Boucher has joined as the honorary chair.[2] The IIA includes among its members AT&T and the Americans for Tax Reform and has focused on expanding broadband access and adoption with particular emphasis on increased mobile connectivity for underserved and rural communities.[3][4]
Boucher served 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[5] which led to the development of the Mosaic web browser credited by most scholars as beginning the Internet boom of the 1990s. His proposals to promote competition in the cable and local telephone industries contributed to the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Boucher originated the House Internet Caucus and served as its co-chairman. He also created the Digital Media Consumer's Rights Act (DMCRA) legislation and co-authored the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. He was named Politician of the Year for 2006 by Library Journal, largely due to his efforts to protect the fair use doctrine and expand Internet technologies to rural areas.[6]
Boucher voted in favor of the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act, as well as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In contrast, Boucher has received a rating of "A+" from the National Rifle Association and is one of the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
Boucher is a strong opponent of tax patents and has introduced bills to either have them banned or to exempt tax attorneys and tax payers from liability in infringing them.[7]
In June 2009, Boucher voted in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act which, if enacted, would establish a cap-and-trade system.[8] Boucher was chairman of the energy sub-committee of the previous Congress which first drafted the legislation, and was deemed to be instrumental in the bills development. Boucher opened his pre-vote remarks on the bill by saying that he was in "strong support of the bill."[9]
In November 2009, Boucher, along with 39 other Democratic members of the House, voted against the Affordable Health Care for America Act.[10] Also, on March 21, 2010, Boucher voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act[11] and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
Rick Boucher endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, while his district went solidly for Hillary Clinton.
In 2007, Congress.org ranked Rick Boucher as the 10th most powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives.[12]
Boucher was first elected to Congress in 1982, defeating Republican incumbent William (Bill) Wampler. He then went on to defeat Virginia House of Delegates member Jefferson Stafford, of Pearisburg, Giles County in 1984. Running unopposed, the Democrat won re-election in November 2008.
Boucher lost the election to Republican nominee Morgan Griffith.[13]
Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | Rick Boucher | 76,227 | 50% | William Wampler | 75,009 | 50% | ||||||||
1984 | Rick Boucher | 102,446 | 52% | Jefferson Stafford | 94,510 | 48% | ||||||||
1986 | Rick Boucher | 59,864 | 99% | no candidate | Write-ins | 602 | 1% | |||||||
1988 | Rick Boucher | 113,309 | 63% | John Brown | 65,410 | 37% | ||||||||
1990 | Rick Boucher | 67,215 | 97% | no candidate | Write-ins | 2,015 | 2% | |||||||
1992 | Rick Boucher | 133,284 | 63% | Gary Weddle | 77,985 | 37% | ||||||||
1994 | Rick Boucher | 153,311 | 59% | Steve Fast | 72,133 | 41% | ||||||||
1996 | Rick Boucher | 122,908 | 65% | Steve Fast | 58,055 | 31% | Tom Roberts | Virginia Reform | 8,080 | 4% | ||||
1998 | Rick Boucher | 87,163 | 61% | Joe Barta | 55,918 | 39% | ||||||||
2000 | Rick Boucher | 137,488 | 70% | Michael Osborne | 59,335 | 30% | ||||||||
2002 | Rick Boucher | 100,075 | 66% | Jay Katzen | 52,076 | 34% | ||||||||
2004 | Rick Boucher | 150,039 | 59% | Kevin Triplett | 98,499 | 39% | Seth Davis | Independent | 4,341 | 2% | ||||
2006 | Rick Boucher | 129,705 | 68% | Bob Carrico | 61,574 | 32% | ||||||||
2008 | Rick Boucher | 207,306 | 97% | no candidate | Write-ins | 6,264 | 3% | |||||||
2010 | Rick Boucher | 86,743 | 46% | Morgan Griffith | 95,726 | 51% | Jeremiah Heaton | Independent | 4,282 | 2% |
Long considered "married to his job", Boucher announced his engagement at age 59 to Amy Hauslohner, an editor of the Galax Gazette in Galax, Virginia. Said Boucher of the engagement "We have decided since I will be 60 in August and she just turned 50 last week, we probably are mature enough to handle marriage." [16] Boucher and Houslohner were married on June 3, 2006.
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55254.html. Retrieved 26 May 2011.|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}". Internet Innovation Alliance. http://internetinnovation.org/press-room/broadband-news-press-releases. Retrieved 26 May 2011.|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}". TheHill.com. http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/162849-boucher-joins-atat-backed-advocacy-group.|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}". Internet Innovation Alliance. http://internetinnovation.org/. Retrieved 26 May 2011.United States House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by William Creed Wampler |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 9th congressional district January 3, 1983 - January 3, 2011 |
Succeeded by Morgan Griffith |