Boucher Rep

=mod blue dog dem pro coal and cap and trade taken out by rove, koch and watchdog.orgVOTED FOR WAXMAN - MARKEY?!<a href="http://www.boucher.house.gov/">http://www.boucher.house.gov/</a>key vote on Waxman-Markeymarty durbin also a dick followed thru rev dr?<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GEO OF BS</div><div style=""> (Marty) Durbin is president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute (GEI). Durbin leads GEI’s efforts to build support for meaningful energy action through policy development, education, and advocacy, making it a go-to voice for commonsense energy solutions.Previously, Durbin was the executive vice president and chief strategy officer at the American Petroleum Institute (API), where he integrated API’s broad advocacy capabilities in pursuit of the organization’s and the industry’s public policy priorities. He returned to API after serving for nearly three years as president and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), representing North America’s leading independent natural gas exploration and production companies. There he oversaw ANGA’s market expansion efforts with industry, government, and consumer stakeholders. At the end of 2015, he guided ANGA’s ultimate combination into API to better achieve the mission of both organizations.Before joining ANGA, Durbin served as executive vice president of Government Affairs at API. Subsequently, Durbin served as vice president of Federal Relations at the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Prior to the merger of the ACC and the American Plastics Council (APC) in 2002, Durbin directed Federal and International Affairs for APC, serving as a liaison to sister organizations in Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico, and South America. Earlier in his career he served as a legislative assistant for Sen. Alan J. Dixon (D-IL) and for Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA).</div>=LI<h3 class="profile-section-cardtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: 0px; line-height: 1.33333;">ormer Member of Congress, Attorney and Public Policy Consultant</h3><h4 class="profile-section-cardsubtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.75;"><a class="profile-section-cardsubtitle-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/privatepractice?trk=public_profile_experience-item_profile-section-card_subtitle-click" data-tracking-control-name="public_profile_experience-item_profile-section-card_subtitle-click" data-tracking-will-navigate="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.75; position: relative;">Self-employed</a></h4><div class="profile-section-cardmeta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.75;"><p class="experience-itemduration experience-itemmeta-item" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.75;"><time style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; outline: 0px;">Jan 2021</time> - Present1 year 3 months<p class="experience-itemlocation experience-itemmeta-item" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.75;">Washington DC and Abingdon, Virginia<div class="experience-itemdescription experience-itemmeta-item" data-section="currentPositions" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.75;"><div class="show-more-less-text show-more-less-text--more" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="show-more-less-texttext--more" tabindex="-1" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5;">Rick Boucher is an attorney and former 28 year Member of the US Congress. Previously, he served for 7 years as a member of the Virginia State Senate. He was a partner in the Washington office of the law firm Sidley Austin (2011-2020), where he founded and lead the firm's Government Strategies practice. He retired from the firm in December of 2020. Now as a sole practitioner he counsels clients on strategies for engaging the federal government. During his time in Congress, he was a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where he chaired the Subcommittee on Communications and the Internet and the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. The former has jurisdiction over all aspects of telecommunications, including traditional telephone networks, multichannel video distribution platforms and Internet policy. The latter develops federal environmental policy and oversees the Environmental Protection Agency. For 28 years he was also a member of the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. Early in his congressional service he chaired the subcommittee that oversaw the commercialization of the Internet and its transition from a government-owned R&D project to the global platform we know today. In that role he was the primary author of the 1992 law that permitted the first commercial use of the Internet. He was one of two co-founders of the Congressional Internet Caucus, and served as the Democratic co-chairman of the 170 member group for 15 years. Rick was instrumental in the formulation of greenhouse gas control legislation. He chaired 28 days of hearings on global climate change and drafted the cap and trade legislation which became the foundation for the Clean Energy and Security Act that passed the House in 2009. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Rick to co-chair a bipartisan commission to recommend reform to Virginia’s ethics laws in the wake of high profile scandals involving public officials.</div></div></div>=mayer dk $:<span style="" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap" background-color="background-color" transparent="transparent">Am Fut Fnd 501c4 soc welf
Noble tested $ laundering on Perriello va (also Boucher conserv dem but Saltvlle/olin in district 251; LuntZ did msg, Larry McC “serial offender” 253.AFF McC ads ~ Braley iowa dem; ground zero mosque, no position; like house in Oz 258=Frederick Carlyle Boucher (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none !important;">/ˈbaʊtʃər/</a>; born August 1, 1946) is an American politician who was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. representative</a> for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia%27s_9th_congressional_district" title="Virginia's 9th congressional district" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Virginia's 9th congressional district</a> from 1983 to 2011. He is a member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Democratic Party</a>. He was defeated in his bid for a 15th term by Republican <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Griffith" title="Morgan Griffith" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Morgan Griffith</a> in the 2010 elections.<div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table;"><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#Early_life,education_and_career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Early life, education and career</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#U.S.House_of_Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2U.S. House of Representatives</a><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#Political_campaigns" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.1Political campaigns</a><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#2010" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.1.12010</a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#Committee_assignments" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Committee assignments</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#Political_positions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Political positions</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#Electoral_history" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Electoral history</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#Personal_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Personal life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Early life, education and career[</h2>Boucher is a native of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abingdon,Virginia" title="Abingdon, Virginia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Abingdon, Virginia</a>, where he currently lives. He earned his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts" title="Bachelor of Arts" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">BA</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_College" title="Roanoke College" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Roanoke College</a> where he was a member of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Alpha_Order" title="Kappa Alpha Order" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kappa Alpha Order</a> fraternity. He received his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor" title="Juris Doctor" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">J.D.</a> degree from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Virginia_School_of_Law" title="University of Virginia School of Law" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">University of Virginia School of Law</a>. He has practiced law on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street" title="Wall Street" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Wall Street</a> initially as an associate at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milbank,Tweed,Hadley%26_McCloy" class="mw-redirect" title="Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Milbank Tweed</a> in the firm's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" title="New York City" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New York City</a> office, and later in Virginia. Prior to his election to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Congress of the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Congress</a>, he served for seven years as a member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_of_Virginia" title="Senate of Virginia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Senate of Virginia</a>. His a former member of the Law and Justice Committee of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Conference_of_State_Legislatures" title="National Conference of State Legislatures" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Conference of State Legislatures</a>, 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.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-bio1-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a> He formerly served on the Advisory Board of Virginia Cares Inc.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-bio1-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a>In May 2011, Boucher joined prominent Washington law firm <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidley_Austin" title="Sidley Austin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sidley Austin</a> and was charged with leading their government strategies practice.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> The Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), an industry advocacy group, also announced that Boucher has joined as the honorary chair.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[3]</a> The IIA includes among its members AT&T and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform" title="Americans for Tax Reform" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Americans for Tax Reform</a> and has focused on expanding broadband access and adoption with particular emphasis on increased mobile connectivity for underserved and rural communities.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">U.S. House of Representatives[</h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.6; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Political campaigns[</h3>Boucher was first elected to Congress in 1982, defeating 16-year Republican incumbent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C.Wampler" title="William C. Wampler" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bill Wampler</a> by 1,100 votes. He was narrowly reelected in 1984, defeating Delegate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Stafford" title="Jefferson Stafford" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jefferson Stafford</a> by four points, even as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ronald Reagan</a> 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_General_Assembly" title="Virginia General Assembly" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Virginia General Assembly</a> 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Katzen" class="mw-redirect" title="Jay Katzen" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Jay Katzen</a> with 66 percent of the vote. In 2004, he defeated NASCAR official Kevin Triplett with 59 percent of the vote even as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">George W. Bush</a> easily carried the district. In 2006, he defeated state delegate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_William_Carrico,Sr." class="mw-redirect" title="Charles William Carrico, Sr." style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Bill Carrico</a> with 68 percent of the vote. He was reelected unopposed in 2008 even as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain" title="John McCain" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">John McCain</a> 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.<h4 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.6; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">2010[</h4><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Virginia#District_9" title="2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 9</a></div>In 2010 Boucher faced his strongest opponent to date in House of Delegates Majority Leader <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Griffith" title="Morgan Griffith" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Morgan Griffith</a>. Although Boucher charged that Griffith lived outside of the 9th (Griffith's home in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem,Virginia" title="Salem, Virginia" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Salem</a> was indeed just outside the 9th's borders), it was not enough to overcome Griffith's attacks that Boucher was an ally of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Barack Obama</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Nancy Pelosi</a>. Ultimately, Griffith unseated Boucher with 51 percent of the vote to Boucher's 46 percent.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-election-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[6]</a> No Democrat has crossed the 40 percent mark in the district since Boucher left office.<h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Committee assignments[</h2><ul style="list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" common="common" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" d4515="d4515" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" padding="padding"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Energy_and_Commerce" title="United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Committee on Energy and Commerce</a><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" common="common" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" d4515="d4515" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" padding="padding"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Energy_Subcommittee_on_Communications,Technology_and_the_Internet" class="mw-redirect" title="United States House Energy Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet</a> (Chairman)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Energy_Subcommittee_on_Energy_and_Environment" class="mw-redirect" title="United States House Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Environment" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality (Chairman)</a></li></ul></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_the_Judiciary" title="United States House Committee on the Judiciary" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Committee on the Judiciary</a><ul style="list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" common="common" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" d4515="d4515" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" padding="padding"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Judiciary_Subcommittee_on_Courts_and_Competition_Policy" class="mw-redirect" title="United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy</a></li></ul></li></ul>Boucher served in the House Democratic leadership as an assistant <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip(politics)" title="Whip (politics)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">whip</a> from 1985 to 2010.<h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Political positions[</h2>Boucher has been active on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet" title="Internet" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Internet</a>-related <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislation" title="Legislation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">legislation</a>, including cosponsoring the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Performance_Computing_and_Communication_Act_of_1991" class="mw-redirect" title="High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> 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.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a> His proposals to promote competition in the cable and local telephone industries contributed to the enactment of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996" title="Telecommunications Act of 1996" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Telecommunications Act of 1996</a>.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]Boucher originated the House Internet Caucus and served as its co-chairman (1996-2011).[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>] He also authored the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Media_Consumers%27_Rights_Act" title="Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act</a> (DMCRA) legislation and introduced the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAIR_USE_Act" title="FAIR USE Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">FAIR USE Act</a>. He was named Politician of the Year for 2006 by the Association of American Libraries' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Journal" title="Library Journal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Library Journal</a>, largely due to his efforts to protect the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use" title="Fair use" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">fair use</a> doctrine and expand Internet technologies to rural areas.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a>Boucher voted in favor of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Industry_Financing_and_Restructuring_Act" class="mw-redirect" title="Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act</a>, as well as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_2008" title="Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009" title="American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009</a>.Boucher has received a rating of "A+" from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association" title="National Rifle Association" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">National Rifle Association</a> and is one of the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq" title="2003 invasion of Iraq" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">invasion of Iraq</a>.Boucher is a strong opponent of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_patent" title="Tax patent" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">tax patents</a> and has introduced bills to either have them banned or to exempt tax attorneys and tax payers from liability in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_infringement" title="Patent infringement" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">infringing</a> them.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>In June 2009, Boucher voted in favor of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Clean_Energy_and_Security_Act" title="American Clean Energy and Security Act" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American Clean Energy and Security Act</a> which, if enacted, would establish a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-and-trade" class="mw-redirect" title="Cap-and-trade" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">cap-and-trade</a> system.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> 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."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a>In November 2009, Boucher, along with 39 other Democratic members of the House, voted against the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Health_Care_for_America_Act" title="Affordable Health Care for America Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Affordable Health Care for America Act</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a> Also, on March 21, 2010, Boucher voted against the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act" class="mw-redirect" title="Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Care_and_Education_Reconciliation_Act_of_2010" title="Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010</a>.Rick Boucher endorsed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Barack Obama</a> for the Democratic nomination for president, while his district went solidly for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton" title="Hillary Clinton" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hillary Clinton</a>.[In 2007, Congress.org ranked Rick Boucher as the 10th most powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Boucher#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Electoral history</h2><div>...</div>mod blue dog dem pro coal and cap and trade taken out by rove, koch and watchdog.org<table width="100%" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><tbody><tr><td>Morgan Griffith is in trouble for his do-nothing, no-ideas attempt to intrude on our 9th District representation.  So bereft of ideas is the GOP, its new "Pledge" and its 9th District candidate, that Griffith has taken to wearing a shirt saying that he can beat Boucher.  That's it?  Wow!  He thinks he is Tootle's the Train! Talk about underwhelming!  And so, to the rescue comes another corporate front group, Americans for Job Security (AJS), which is apparently run from an UPS mail box and also an office suite in the same building as Karl Rove's new money mill, Crosspoint GPS.This past week the New York Times ran a front-page expose on AJS <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/politics/24donate.html?r=1&hp" style="text-decoration: none;">here</a>. Other stories about AJS appeared at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/24/shadowy-probusiness-group_n_737868.html?view=print" style="text-decoration: none;">Huffington Post</a> and <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/98545/nyt-exposes-americans-for-job-security" style="text-decoration: none;">Washington Independent</a>.The Roanoke Times reported that last week that Congressman Rick Boucher requested a Lynchburg station to  remove the AJS ads.  At issue were a number of false statements in the ad, including that Boucher sides with Nancy Pelosi more than 96% of the time.  It is not that there is anything wrong with that or that the vilification of the House Speaker is justified in any way.  But that is a blog for another day.  The RT's <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/261396" style="text-decoration: none;">Mike Sluss</a> wrote:</td></tr><tr><td class="theFlip" style="padding: 20px;"><a href="http://bluevirginia.us/userDiary.do;jsessionid=AC2C42645E226D4D66AC8BC2648E5A24?personId=36" style="text-decoration: none;">KathyinBlacksburg</a> :: <a href="http://bluevirginia.us/showDiary.do;jsessionid=AC2C42645E226D4D66AC8BC2648E5A24?diaryId=1808" style="text-decoration: none;">Rick Boucher Fights Phony Ad Dump by Shadowy Group</a></td></tr><tr><td><blockquote style="margin: 15px 40px; border: 1px dashed rgb(24, 31, 75); padding: 10px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238);">
Boucher said the ad also is deceptive because the <a href="http://opencongress.org/" style="text-decoration: none;">opencongress.org</a> survey gives the same weight to innocuous measures such as a resolution naming a post office as it does to far-reaching legislation such as health care overhaul, which Boucher opposed. The same survey shows Boucher voting with Republican Bob Goodlatte of Roanoke County on 51 percent of the 1,829 roll call votes the two have cast since January 2007. 
</blockquote>
Boucher also cited evidence from the National Journal, which found Boucher the 198th most liberal Congressman in the House. In other words, he's right in the middle of the pack, a centrist.  That didn't stop AJS from trying to deceive voters by falsely implying in the ads that Boucher is both extreme and a rubber stamp at the same time.  Having found the ads factually inaccurate, one station, WSET in Lynchburg (the ABC affiliate for most of western Virginia), pulled them.  Who or What is "Americans for Job Security?"  One thing is certain, it has tried to inject disinformation and lies into the 9th Congressional District Race in Virginia, $600,000 dollars worth of disinformation (and more probably forthcoming).  According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Job_Security" style="text-decoration: none;">Wikipedia</a> AJS is a 
<blockquote style="margin: 15px 40px; border: 1px dashed rgb(24, 31, 75); padding: 10px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238);">
" Virginia-based 501(c)(6) group that OpenSecrets.org describes as "a pro-Republican, pro-business organization" headed by David Carney."</blockquote>Here's <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2010/08/americans-for-job-security/" style="text-decoration: none;">FactCheck.org's</a> take on the organization. (My aside: "leans" Republican?  Have you see the ads? Come on, Factcheck.org, tell the truth.  Don't give us spin from AJS's website!  The group is strongly Republican.  Its foray into Dem primaries was manipulative at best. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Job_Security" style="text-decoration: none;">Sourcewatch</a> calls AJS a frontgroup for Republican and corporate interests.  Also according to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Marc_F._Racicot" style="text-decoration: none;">Sourcewatch</a>, it is thought that Marck Racicot, former Bushie and one time chairman of the Republican National Committee is behind AJS.  All along, we have been saying stand up to the lies. Finally, we have a Democrat who is not just rolling over and playing dead while the real extremists play fast and loose with the facts, smear, and fear monger.  Hopefully, other Dems will take Boucher's lead and vigorously rebut inaccuracies and smears, all of them.</td></tr></tbody></table>==

modern BTU'd, key vote waxman-m sellout

moderate dem targetted by koch: //manchin?

An election took place last fall in Virginia that didn't garner national attention, but it should have - not for the candidates or issues - but for the giant pile of corporate cash manipulating events behind the scenes.

Rick Boucher, a then-28-year incumbent Democratic Congressman from the Ninth District - the longest-serving Congressman in that district since the Civil War - was surprisingly defeated by Republican Morgan Griffith. The upset came as a shock to many, since an early <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44589.html" target="_blank">October poll</a> showed Boucher ahead by double digits, including one measure earlier in the month that put him ahead by 10 percentage points.

C'est la vie. Such is political life. The National Republican Congressional Committee spent around $600,000 in ads, and the media framed the defeat as a Blue Dog, Boucher losing due to his support for cap-and-trade policies.

Except, there was more to the story. A Democratic Party official from Virginia, who asked to remain anonymous because he is still serving in an official capacity, says the "Boucher is an enemy of coal" narrative is a lie and that actually far more sinister actions are at play in Virginia.

In fact, Boucher is the type of moderate Democrat that Progressives loathe. He is indeed a great friend of coal and went out of his way to preserve coals jobs in his district. Boucher did vote for cap and trade, but only because he feared the alternative was to leave regulation to the <a href="http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2010/oct/28/morgan-griffith/morgan-griffith-says-rick-boucher-helped-write-cap/" target="blank">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA), which he said would be devastating for companies that rely on coal and their employees. The <a href="http://www.umwa.org/?q=news/umwa-praises-boucher-efforts-protect-coal-miners-jobs-and-coal-industry" target="blank">United Mine Workers of America</a> (UMWA) actually praised Boucher for his commitment "to protect coal miners and the coal industry."

Griffith nonetheless seized upon the "Boucher is bad for coal" narrative and added it to his existing arsenal, accusing Boucher of being too cozy with President Obama (Boucher voted against both versions of the House health care bill, but refused to repeal the law).

These kinds of campaign smears aren't unusual, save for the fact that the "Boucher Betrayed Coal" ads that played in Virginia and that were so effective they eventually cost Boucher his seat, were paid for by the <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/265170" target="blank">Americans for Prosperity</a>, a special-interest group founded with the support of David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch of Koch Industries, and the same group that was so instrumental during the now infamous health care town hall <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/212261" target="blank">debacles</a>.

Boucher survived the Republican Revolution of 1994, but he could not survive propaganda funded by two of the wealthiest men in the world.

That wouldn't be the last time Virginia heard from the Kochs.

In January, a special election was held to fill the vacated seat of now-Congressman Griffith in the House of Delegates. The Republicans ran the former Chair of the Salem Democratic Committee, Greg Habeeb.

===

WASHINGTON -- Former and current House members, along with several former staffers who now work as lobbyists, have launched a new group representing pro-coal Democrats.

CoalBlue Project, which <a href="http://coalblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CoalBlue-Launch-Press-Release-7.24.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">began operating at the end of July</a>, promotes itself as "Democrats committed to securing coal's place in America's sustainable energy future." The group includes Reps. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Bill Enyart (D-Ill.), and former Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Tim Holden (D-Pa.). The group also includes current and former state elected officials.

CoalBlue's secretary, Stefan Bailey, said the group formed out of a desire to elevate Democratic pro-coal voices. "We knew there were a lot of Democrats out there that support coal and wanted to provide a forum for them to make their support known," said Bailey. The group's objective is to "identify, organize, educate, and mobilize Americans" in support of coal, Bailey said. The group plans to work with congressional, state, and local elected officials, he said. Bailey said he could not say the exact measures the group would push for, but it would generally work to advance coal technologies and find ways to keep coal in the energy mix.

The announcement of the group came weeks after the Obama administration <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/06/obama-climate-speech-georgetown" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">rolled out a far-reaching climate plan</a> that included a directive to the EPA to set emission limits for existing power plants and finalize limits for new power plants that would<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/03/end-coal-we-know-it" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">end the construction of coal plants</a> unless they capture greenhouse gas pollutants.

BlueCoal will <a href="http://coalblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CoalBlue-Brochure_FINAL.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">advocate the position</a> that "a clean, low-carbon economy cannot be achieved without clean, low-carbon coal."

CoalBlue is registered as a non-profit in the District of Columbia. Baily said the group is seeking IRS recognition as a 501(c)4 nonprofit. Bailey declined to name the group's funding sources.

Bailey was a congressional staffer for nine years, working for Rahall and former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). He is now <a href="http://www.prime-policy.com/talent/bailey" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">a director</a> at the government relations firm Prime Policy Group, whose <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000045879&year=" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">lobbying clients</a> include energy companies such as Duke Energy, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/business/energy-environment/duke-energy-merger-creates-largest-us-utility.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">largest electric utility</a> in the U.S. Bailey said that he's working with CoalBlue as a volunteer, and that the group is not affiliated with his firm.

CoalBlue Project resident Jon Wood is the former vice president of government and external affairs for Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal producers in the U.S. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=F26836&year=2013" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">Wood is still a registered lobbyist</a> for Alpha. He <a href="http://www.sseb.org/images/woodbio.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">worked previously</a> for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

Senators representing coal states, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) co-authored a statement of support for the group, posted on the front page of <a href="http://coalblue.org/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">its website</a>. "We are proud to support the important and worthy mission of CoalBlue Project, and welcome CoalBlue as a valuable and necessary voice in the national conversation regarding our nation’s energy future," the senators wrote.

Manchin spokesman Jonathan Kott said that the senator has "no official role" in the group, while he is "supportive of their agenda." (As <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/senate-obama-ferc-coal-binz_n_3796736.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer;">HuffPost reported last week</a>, Manchin is expected to go head-to-head with President Barack Obama over the president's nominee to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency, coal foe Ron Binz.)

Heitkamp spokeswoman Abigail McDonough said the senator is not affiliated with CoalBlue, but is "supportive of efforts to find real solutions for coal."

Rahall's office confirmed the congressman's involvement with the group. "Congressman Rahall has worked throughout his entire tenure in Congress to promote the use of coal as a major component of the nation’s domestic energy portfolio and as a means to lessen dependence on foreign fuels," said Rahall spokesman John Noble in an email to The Huffington Post. "He has been proud to lend his strong support to CoalBlue, which is working with individuals from all levels of government to achieve a broad commitment to the use of coal as a sustainable fuel, while advancing the technologies that will allow for coal to be burned more efficiently and cleanly."

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/democrats-coal-congress_n_3839660.html?ir=Green&ref=topbar" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/democrats-coal-congress_n_3839660.html?ir=Green&ref=topbar</a>

==

<a href="http://www.boucher.house.gov/">http://www.boucher.house.gov/</a>

key vote on Waxman-Markey

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Dingell detroit said cc a glorious mess

obama admin picked waxman aid as pipeline 329 pelosi backed his chair of energy & commerce bid too, beat dingell (doyle steel)

Waxman reached out to Boucher

pooley

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<h1 class="title">OP Targets 'Clean Coal' Champion Boucher in Virginia Race</h1>

<h3>Toppling the 14-term Democrat would reshape dynamics of climate and energy in the House</h3>

By Elizabeth McGowan

</div>

</div>

</div>

WASHINGTON—Rep. Rick Boucher is no stranger to shrewdness. On behalf of the fossil fuel stranglehold on his home district, the Virginia Democrat forced his liberal colleagues to reconfigure the House climate bill until it included tens of millions of dollars for “clean coal” technology.

But that tough bargaining of the past seems almost immaterial now.

This campaign season, Republicans are unleashing a multi-pronged attack on the 14-term Boucher, hoping his “yes” vote on the cap-and-trade bill will persuade voters to support his opponent Morgan Griffith Nov. 2. The GOP evidently sees this as a chance to gain one of the 39 seats needed to become the majority party in the House.

“It’s purely a political opportunity,” David Jenkins, government affairs director with Republicans for Environmental Protection, told SolveClimate News in an interview. “The Republicans probably agree with Boucher more than they don’t but he’s part of the Democratic majority, so they’re going after him by using his Waxman-Markey vote against him.”

</blockquote>

Though polls show Boucher still leads Griffith, the Republican majority leader of the Virginia House of Delegates, at least one political handicapper has moved the race to the “toss-up” category.

As well, observers who delve deep into the political tea leaves know that a Boucher loss plus a Republican majority would add up to a reshaped House Energy and Commerce Committee that is far less muscular on bold climate and energy legislation.

As a senior member of the committee, Boucher serves on two subcommittees, one being Energy and Environment. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., turned the committee into a force of nature in 2008 when he wrested power from Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and called on fellow progressive Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., to push the American Clean Energy and Security Act through the House in 2009.

The Latest in Boucher Territory

Boucher represents Virginia’s 9th District, a huge swath of the mountainous southwestern part of the state surrounded by West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.

During last winter’s record-breaking snowfalls in the mid-Atlantic region, the Virginia Republican Party opportunistically equated the weather with climate and skewered Boucher for his cap-and-trade vote.

The National Republican Congressional Committee and a conservative advocacy group called Americans for Job Security are the latest to put Boucher on the spot. The latter's ad accuses Boucher of potentially costing Virginia more than 50,000 jobs and burdening Virginians with higher energy taxes and prices because of his vote to support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her quest for climate legislation.

Americans for Job Security led all interest groups between Sept. 6 and 12 by spending $1.28 million assailing four Democratic House candidates nationwide, according to a chart in The Washington Post on Sept. 14.

Boucher has countered with his own recently released ad. It features a headline from The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper proclaiming “Boucher is coal’s man.” The ad also highlights Jim McGlothin, founder of Virginia’s United Coal Co., touting Boucher as coal’s best friend in Washington who took on his own party to protect Virginia’s coal interests.

What the Poll Numbers Say

Thus far, prognosticators at nonpartisan forecasting organizations such as the Cook Political Report and the University of Virginia Center for Politics via professor Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball Web site have categorized the Boucher-Griffith race as leaning Democratic.

But Real Clear Politics is now labeling the Virginia race as a toss-up. That switch is evidently based on a change in polling numbers released by Survey USA. Boucher’s 13-point lead over Griffith shrank to 10 points between mid-July and early September.

Neither the League of Conservation Voters nor the Sierra Club has endorsed either candidate. Boucher environmental voting record has earned him a 69 percent lifetime rating in the scorecard compiled by the League of Conservation Voters. His score for 2009 was 100 percent.

A spokesman for the Sierra Club pointed out that while Boucher was the linchpin in the House’s passage of the Waxman-Markey bill, many environmental organizations were dissatisfied with rewards handed out to the coal industry.

“Historically, the Energy and Commerce Committee has always been bulked up with members from energy-producing states, and chairman Dingell was happy to have it that way,” said Dave Hamilton, director of the Sierra Club’s global warming and energy programs, said in an interview, referring to Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.

Only recently, Hamilton added, has Democratic leadership been able to alter that scenario by appointing progressives such as Peter Welch of Vermont, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Jerry McNerney of California, and Betty Sutton and Zack Space of Ohio.

In addition to Boucher, committee members Space, Sutton, McNerney and Baron Hill of Indiana are duking it out in tight races in their home states.

No matter who is in charge of the House next session, the tenor of the committee could change because of the departures of longstanding Democrats Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Bart Stupak of Michigan and Charlie Melancon of Louisiana and Republicans John Shadegg of Arizona, George Radanovich of California and Roy Blunt of Missouri. Both Melancon and Blunt are running for Senate seats, while the others are retiring.

Neutered Energy and Commerce Committee?

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by?Morgan Griffith says Rick Boucher “helped write” the cap-and-trade billHalf-TrueShare this story:Morgan Griffith TV ad from Sept. 20, 2010, containing claim that Rick Boucher helped write Cap and Trade bill.The cap-and-trade bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is dominating the race for the 9th Congressional District seat out in the heart of coal country.Republican challenger Morgan Griffith is pounding Democratic incumbent Rick Boucher for voting in favor of cap-and-trade. Griffith claims the legislation will kill jobs in the district, already beset with high unemployment.A recent Griffith TV ad features a repeated clip of President Barack Obama professing, "I love Rick Boucher." The narrator says: "Love the Obama Washington agenda? Rick Boucher does. Obama’s cap-and-trade plan kills our jobs and raises electricity costs. Boucher helped write it."    Cap-and-trade has stalled in the U.S. Senate. But PolitiFact Virginia wanted to examine what role Boucher had, if any, in drafting the legislation.  What exactly is cap-and-trade?Under the bill, the government would set a limit on how much carbon companies, such as electric utilities or manufacturers, can emit. The government would then issue permits for emissions to companies and allow them to buy and sell the permits with each other. Supporters say the policy would create a free-market system that will reduce emissions. Opponents argue that that it will kill jobs that rely on coal and other traditional fuel sources.Griffith bases his claim that Boucher helped write the bill to on a story on news website SWVA Today in which Boucher defended his vote for cap-and-trade and acknowledged having a part in amending the bill.Asked to clarify his role, Boucher explained that the alternative to cap-and-trade was to leave regulation to the Environmental Protection Agency, which he said  would be devastating for companies that rely on coal and their employees."That would be the worst possible outcome for the coal industry, coal jobs, for electric utilities that burn coal and electric consumers," Boucher told PolitiFact Virginia.As a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Boucher said he amended the legislation at the request of the coal and electric power industries in an effort to minimize the impact on coal jobs.  Boucher’s changes included emissions credits that ensured that power plants could continue to use coal so long as they find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."It’s certainly accurate to say that I was deeply involved in the process, but the ad is extraordinarily misleading because it suggests that I was doing this because it was something that the President of the Speaker of the House wanted," Boucher said. "In fact, I took them on to get the deal that I got for coal."Boucher’s intentions were defended by Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, who said the congressman went to bat for coal."The truth of the matter is that when that bill was originally introduced, there wasn’t one single dime in there in support of the coal industry," he said. "What Rick Boucher did was to get involved in the negotiations and put $180 billion into it for coal."   Smith added: "Without him getting involved, the handwriting would be on the wall for the coal industry at this point."  Melissa McHenry with American Electric Power said that the company was supportive of those changes that Boucher had made to cap-and-trade."It supports continued use of coal," she said. "The alternative is EPA regulation and he recognized that that would have a significant impact to the detriment of the coal industry."  Let’s look back at the details.Did Boucher help write cap-and-trade? Absolutely. But he did so to add protections for the coal industry and the jobs it provides in his district.The ad implies that Boucher contributed to a job-killing bill, but his motive was to actually protect those jobs. So while the statement is accurate that he helped write it, the ad leaves out important details. We find the claim Half True.

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