Rick Boucher to Chair Communications Technology & Internet
February 17, 2009
Congressman Rick Boucher will chair the subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet in the 111th Congress.
Jan. 9, 2009 press release from his office
BOUCHER TO CHAIR SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY AND THE INTERNET IN THE 111TH CONGRESS
(Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA) was chosen Thursday to take the gavel of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, a position which places him at the forefront of telecommunications policy in the House of Representatives. The post gives him the opportunity to further his longstanding work on a range of telecommunications issues.
Boucher has also served for two decades on the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Internet and intellectual property. As one of only three Members of the House to serve on both the Energy and Commerce and Judiciary Committees-the two committees most involved in crafting Internet and information technology policy-Congressman Boucher is uniquely positioned to lead congressional efforts in this arena. He is also a co-founder and current co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus, which serves as an educational resource for the Congress on Internet related policy matters. The caucus has grown to more than 170 members of the House and Senate.
Boucher's focus on information technology policy spans more than two decades. In 1992, he authored the law which allowed the first commercial traffic on the Internet, opening the door to electronic commerce. In 1986, Boucher proposed the first Satellite Home Viewer Act, and he mediated the negotiations between broadcasters and satellite carriers that led to its passage in 1988. Boucher also introduced with then Senator Al Gore the first bills enabling telephone companies to compete with cable television by offering video programming packages in their telephone service areas. Their measures were forerunners of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
Recently, Congressman Boucher has been a leader in ensuring that the Internet remains an open medium by promoting network neutrality. Additionally, he has introduced the leading legislation to reform the federal Universal Service Fund and keep telephone service affordable for rural Americans. As a longtime champion of the rights of universities, libraries and consumers to make fair use of the digital media they lawfully acquire, since the 107th Congress, Congressman Boucher has introduced legislation backed by a broad coalition of consumer groups and technology companies to preserve the ability of consumers to use digital media in their homes in the manner most convenient to them.
Boucher has long recognized the importance of deploying broadband networks, and for more than 10 years he has encouraged local governments in his Ninth Congressional District to find means to increase access to high speed Internet services. Largely due to his efforts, Southwest Virginia today has one of the most capable broadband networks to be found in rural America.
"Just as first canals, railroads and Interstate highways were the major arteries of commerce in earlier eras, in the 21st Century, access to broadband telecommunications will be a defining feature of economic success for our communities," he has said.
In the 111th Congressman Boucher will oversee the digital television transition and work toward reform of the federal universal service fund, promote broadband deployment and work to enable local governments to offer broadband in communities not fully served by commercial carriers.
