Boucher to replace Markey on House telecom subcommittee

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Markey), a major force on wireless legislation the past two decades as chairman of the House telecom subcommittee, is giving up his post to head the Commerce subcommittee on energy and environment.
Rick Boucher (D-Va.), another influential telecom lawmaker on the House Commerce Committee who chaired the subcommittee Markey will lead, is expected to be named the new telecom subcommittee chairman.
“We are delighted with the selection of Rep. Boucher as the chairman of the telecom subcommittee,” said Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge. “Mr. Boucher is a champion of the Internet, one of the co-founders of the Congressional Internet Caucus and dedicated to bringing technological innovation to our economy. He has also been a leader on intellectual-property issues and a dedicated defender of consumer rights in the digital age.”
Whether Boucher will champion consumer and privacy issues with the same fervor as did Markey remains to be seen. Markey, among other things, played a key role in crafting 1993 legislation that authorized spectrum auctions, transferred federal government spectrum to the private sector and created the national regulatory framework for the wireless industry.
Sohn made note of Markey’s work on telecom policymaking: “We thank Rep. Markey for his dedicated work on telecommunications over the years. Consumers had no better advocate on an almost infinite variety of issues ranging from protecting the public from the power of large media and telecommunications companies, to improving the online world through net neutrality to online privacy. He is one of the true giants of the field and everyone is grateful for his many contributions.”