Citing the hard work done by the Carroll County Board of Supervisors to upgrade the infrastructure along major corridors, U.S. Representative Rick Boucher said he believes the county is poised for the future better than any of the localities in his Congressional district.

Boucher said adding water and sewer capabilities to Exits 19, 8 and 1, as well as the Woodlawn sewer project, can only benefit Carroll County as the calendar turns to 2010 and beyond.

“It is quite an accomplishment that is now being realized in Carroll County with water and wastewater facilities that really will prepare for a prosperous future here,” Boucher said. “Carroll has taken advantage of every opportunity and I want to compliment the Board of Supervisors for the tremendous progress that is being made.”

Boucher noted the $7.3 million project that will implement water and sewer services along Exit 19, as well as connect the Carroll water system to the New River.

“Because the New River will be interconnected to all of the new water systems that are being provided in Carroll County, that will be an infinite water source,” Boucher said.

Boucher said once completed, the water and wastewater capabilities open a world of possibilities for the northern part of the county because of the existing Wildwood Commerce Park.

Boucher highlighted the $8 million investment for water and wastewater services for Fancy Gap, and the federal funds used to bring the infrastructure to Exit 1.

Boucher said the Woodlawn sewer project, which involves building lines to send wastewater to Galax, should be beneficial to the county in making the U.S. 58 corridor attractive to business, while helping Galax make the most of its wastewater treatment facility.

“It benefits both Galax and Carroll County. Galax can maximize the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant and receive revenue for taking the county’s waste,” Boucher said. “The county can supply the waste to the city at a price that is far more affordable to the county than building its own wastewater treatment plant. It is a highly advantageous arrangement for all parties concerned, and will provide the needed sewer service for the further development of the Route 58 interchange and the area between that exit and the city of Galax.”

With much work already done to secure funding for those projects, Boucher said there is the possibility of additional federal dollars to go toward other infrastructural projects and the implementation of broadband Internet.

“We have a lot of communities that simply do not have high speed Internet access,” Boucher said. “I have a goal of making sure it is available throughout the district.”

Boucher said veterans in the area now have the opportunity to secure a plot in Southwest Virginia’s first and only Veterans Cemetery in Pulaski County. It’s a project Boucher said he has championed for a while and he looks forward to its opening in 2010.

“We’ve never had a cemetery in the Ninth District for veterans,” Boucher said. “The nearest one is in Amelia County, which, from here, is a five-hour drive in each direction. That will change in 2010, when we open the new Veterans Cemetery in Pulaski County.”

Boucher said veterans who are interested in reserving space can contact his office in Pulaski or Abingdon for the necessary paperwork.

2010 Agenda

In 2009, Boucher voted against the controversial health care reform bill that was introduced in the House. He said reform is necessary, but he thought the bill didn’t fit with the needs of the Ninth District, so he cast a vote in contrast to many of his fellow Democrats.

“Any reform has got to well serve the needs of this Congressional district to receive my support,” Boucher said. “I voted against the House bill, and in doing that, I voted differently from most of the members of my political party, and my position was different from the administration’s position.

“I was very concerned about how that bill would affect our not-for-profit hospitals in the Ninth District. The Twin County Hospital that serves Carroll County, operates as a not-for-profit hospital, and not earning profits, it struggles to make ends meet as all of our local hospitals do. Virtually all of the ones in this area are community hospitals and not for profit. I was very concerned that the House bill would put more of our hospitals in danger of closure.”

Boucher said when members of the House and Senate meet this month to reconcile the differences in their bills, he hopes those needs are addressed. If so, he’ll vote in favor of the measure. If not, he said he will vote against it again.

“I hope that measure will be consistent with the needs of this district and will achieve a workable reform,” Boucher said. “I will evaluate it carefully once an agreement between the House and Senate has been achieved and make an assessment as to whether those goals are met and vote accordingly. I am keeping the needs of health care delivery in this district and the availability of health care to Ninth District residents as the foremost guide to whether or not I can support this measure.”

Boucher also had harsh words for the dealmaking that went on in the Senate in order to secure the 60 necessary votes for passage, specifically the deal made by Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson.

“Deals like that have no place in proper lawmaking and that measure, I think, has to be removed from this health care reform,” Boucher said. “We can’t tolerate that kind of dealmaking.”

Boucher said he is in favor of balancing the Federal budget as quickly as possible, and is behind a measure that would do so.

“I have cosponsored a bill that provides the most rapid path to achieving a balanced budget,” Boucher said. “It will create a commission comprised of individuals who are not members of Congress. This commission will have one year in which to make comprehensive recommendations to achieve a balanced budget. It will look at all areas of Federal spending and all areas of potential Federal revenues and will make a comprehensive recommendation that the Congress will be required to consider within six weeks. No amendments to the recommendation will be in order. It will be subject to an up or down vote in each house of Congress.”

Boucher said he is hopeful that the measure will receive additional support from the Executive Branch.

“I have encouraged the White House to include in the President’s State of the Union address, an endorsement of this measure,” he said. “I think it’s important that we pass it in a couple of months and get this process underway. If the President endorses it, that will provide the critical momentum in order to do this.”

Boucher also hopes that a bill to help keep rural telephone rates affordable will be met favorably in the coming year.

“I’ve introduced a bill that I hope to pass in Congress in the coming year, will stabilize and make endurable for the long term, the Federal Universal Service Fund that makes telephone rates affordable in rural areas,” Boucher said. “The cost to provide telephone service in rural regions is greater than the cost in urban areas because the populations are not as dense and the distances the telephone lines have to travel are longer. The same expensive equipment has to be installed in the central offices that have to be installed in cities. If rural residents had to pay the real cost to provide service to them, phone rates would be three times or four times as expensive as they are today. It is the Universal Service Fund that fills the gap and keeps rural rates as low as they are in cities. That fund is under a lot of stress, and in order to stabilize it, I’ve introduced this bill.”

And, Boucher introduced a bill in 2009 that would protect members of the press from revealing their anonymous sources in civil court proceedings. That bill already passed the House and he hopes a similar bill, which has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, will make it through the Senate this year.

“That is necessary to encourage the inside sources who have the best information about corruption in government or misdeeds in a large corporation or charity, to bring evidence of misdeeds to light and then when that happens, corrective steps can be taken,” Boucher said. “Unless that inside source speaks out and shares the information, the public never knows and the misdeed goes uncorrected. That inside source is not going to call that reporter and reveal the information unless his or her anonymity can be protected.”