Praise continued to flow Wednesday for exiting House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.).
"Rep. Rick
Boucher was at the center of American telecommunications policy for
nearly three decades," said American Cable Association President Matt
Polka Wednesday following his loss in Tuesday night's
election after 14 terms in Congress. "Rep. Boucher understood that good
policy is made when concept confronts opportunity, and he went about
the business of lawmaking with erudition, calm civility and intellectual
rigor in an effort to locate the most desirable
outcome for the nation and his rural Virginia district. His door always
remained open to ACA members for an exchange of ideas and a search for
common ground to improve conditions in unserved and underserved
communities."
That
sentiment was echoed by Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, in a
blog posting. "Though I am a mere public interest advocate," said Sohn,
"Rick Boucher's door was always open, and he was
extremely generous with his time, even after he became subcommittee
chair.
"There is no
one in Washington more steeped in telecom knowledge than Rick Boucher,"
said National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton. "we
will miss his intellect and his Southern
graciousness."
"Boucher
long served as a substantive thought leader and a policy guy actually
ready to get in under the hood to understand issues," said Bruce Melman,
co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance.
"He will be missed by a lot of folks."
