Rick Boucher

Frederick Carlyle Boucher (born August 1, 1946) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district from 1983 to 2011.

He is a member of the Democratic Party.

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.

Boucher served in the House Democratic leadership as an assistant whip from 1985 to 2010.

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.

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.

Boucher originated the House Internet Caucus and served as its co-chairman (1996-2011).

He also authored the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA) legislation and introduced the FAIR USE Act.

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.

Boucher has received a rating of "A+" and endorsement from the NRA Political Victory Fund between 2004 and 2010.

He is one of the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

In 2006, he defeated state delegate Bill Carrico with 68 percent of the vote.

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.

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.

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.

He was defeated in his bid for a 15th term by Republican Morgan Griffith in the 2010 elections.

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.

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.

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.

In May 2011, Boucher joined prominent Washington law firm Sidley Austin and was charged with leading their government strategies practice.

The Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), an industry advocacy group, also announced that Boucher has joined as the honorary chair.

The IIA includes among its members AT&T and 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.