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One of Boucher's more significant pieces of legislation, enacted in 1993, paved the way for commercial use of the Internet. At the time, Boucher served on the Science, Space and Technology Committee and chaired its Subcommittee on Science, which presided over the National Science Foundation, the organization that ran the Internet backbone. The long-standing policy prohibiting commercial traffic from traversing the backbone needed to be overturned if the Web's commercial evolution were to continue. Boucher had the foresight to craft legislation--an amendment to the National Science Foundation Act of 1950--that liberated the Internet from oppressive governmental controls so it could grow and mature. Today, it's hard to imagine the Internet without e-commerce.

Boucher was also one of the leading architects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996--legislation that resulted in, among other things, the deregulation of telecommunications services, thereby opening the field to competition previously illegal. With local telecommunications services now able to compete within a single market, the incumbents were compelled to focus on customer service. Deregulation also stimulated the introduction and development of technologies such as ADSL, which otherwise would have been stalled in many parts of the country under the monopolistic policies of the incumbent local exchange carriers.

Boucher has been a leader in the area of encryption exportation, championing legislation that allows U.S. companies to export strong encryption. The U.S. policy on the exportation of encryption technology has long been out of step with the realities of the data-security industry. Until recently, in many cases it was illegal to use strong encryption when exchanging data with anyone outside the United States. U.S. developers of encryption products were also at a severe competitive disadvantage with foreign enterprises, as the latter were allowed to sell strong-encryption products on an international basis, but domestic companies were restricted from doing so. To address these unfair limitations, Boucher co-sponsored the Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act, which was finally signed into law at the beginning of this year.

Boucher continues to be instrumental in shaping U.S. government policies regarding the Internet. Along with his service on the House Commerce and Judiciary committees, Boucher is currently co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus, which he co-founded in 1996 along with Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; and Rep. Rick White, R-Wash. The caucus--a bipartisan assembly of more than 100 members of the House and Senate--hosts an advisory group of key vendors and works to educate lawmakers on the complex issues surrounding the Internet in the 21st century.

E-commerce can go only as far as the government will allow it to go. Fortunately, Boucher has been front and center in making sure the government does its part to smooth the way.