Roanoka Times - Griffith Calls Out Boucher Over Ad

News Article

By Mason Adams

Ninth District Republican challenger Morgan Griffith criticized incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, on Tuesday for what Griffith says is a misleading campaign ad.

The 30-second television spot touts Boucher's National Rifle Association endorsement, his vote against the health care reform bill and says he "took on his own party to protect coal jobs in the energy bill."

Griffith takes issue with that last claim, pointing to Boucher's vote in favor of legislation that would create a national "cap-and-trade" system that would likely raise the cost of coal.

"It's clearly deceitful for an ad to suggest that Congressman Rick Boucher opposed coal-killing Cap and Trade legislation, when he in fact voted for it," Griffith, of Salem, said in a news release. "Cap and Trade will destroy the coal industry, raise electric bills and send more American manufacturing jobs overseas to China."

Boucher has argued that he helped soften the bill by incorporating provisions to help protect coal producers, while Republicans argue it would impose an energy tax that would cripple the industry during a time when the district is already growing more slowly than the rest of the state.

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