Peter Welch passes hundred day mark in office

Author: Derek Schlickeisen

With his first 100 days in office, a traditional Congressional landmark, behind him, freshman Representative Peter Welch (D) of Vermont has moved quickly to follow through on campaign promises by building a legislative record on climate change and the Iraq war. From announcing a carbon-neutral Capitol Hill office to opposing President Bush's Baghdad troop surge, Welch is gaining a reputation that fits with Vermont's political activism.

Speaking about Welch's carbon-neutral office, Press Secretary Andrew Savage '03 said that his boss' home state has reflected in his work both on and off the House floor.

"The Congressman is taking some of the practical leadership demonstrated in Vermont and applying it to his job down here," said Savage. "He sees the office as an interim step towards making substantive changes as he pursues comprehensive global warming legislation in Congress."

Welch's carbon-neutral initiative, much like Middlebury College's, stands symbolic of the desire among Vermont activists to effect immediate change while waiting for the federal government to act. Though the Democratic Congress in its own first 100 days split its focus between "bread and butter" issues like the minimum wage and the challenge presented by the Iraq war," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to pass a comprehensive bill to combat global warming.

"Being in the majority makes an enormous difference. I think there was a sense throughout the campaign that the priorities needed to chance in Congress," said Savage. "Demonstrated by the first 100 days here, a new majority really does make a difference."

Welch's actions in that majority have also, however, attracted criticism from across the aisle.

"The agenda Rep. Welch is pursuing in terms of politics and policy appears to be more geared toward currying favor with the Washington establishment than with serving Vermont," said Rob Roper, Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party.

Welch paired public support for the recent Step It Up demonstrations organized by Middlebury graduates and Scholar-in-Residence Bill McKibben with sponsorship of the Safe Climate Act, which shares Step It Up's goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

"The activism demonstrated by Step It Up events across Vermont and the nation serves as an inspiration for me," Welch said in a press release on April 14, the day on which more than 1,400 Step It Up demonstrations occurred simultaneously across the country. "I am proud of the role Vermonters are playing in stepping up and providing the necessary and urgent leadership to tackle this critical issue."

Welch could not attend Step It Up's largest rally, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., because he was on a Congressional trip to Iraq.

Roper criticized Welch's stance on climate issues, however, singling out in particular his sponsorship of legislation authorizing federal agencies to buy carbon offsets for their fuel-burning activities.

"Welch's own bill calling for taxpayers to fund carbon offsets for government officials and agencies is truly awful when you look at it," Roper said. "A carbon offset is using money to buy your way out of the sin of emitting greenhouse gasses. It's like paying someone to exercise for you, while you sit on the sidelines and eat cookies. It's one thing to do this with your own money, but to take the taxpayers' money to do it is really outrageous."

Welch has made his opposition to President Bush's troop escalation in Iraq as clear as his support for climate-change legislation.

"The previous Congress was a rubber stamp for this President's Iraq policy," said Welch, echoing rhetoric he often used on the campaign trail last fall. "Those days are over."

Welch signed on as a co-sponsor to Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha's (D) bill calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, and supported legislation from Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey (D) that would prevent the President from spending funds that would escalate the troop presence there.

"The Congressman is committed to a policy that demands accountability of both the president and the Iraqi leaders and revokes the president's blank check in Iraq," said Savage.

Looking ahead to coming months, Savage stressed that although Welch is only a freshman in Congress, his many years in the Vermont legislature (he served as President pro tempore of the State Senate before his election to the U.S. House) will help him adjust to governing at the national level.

"He is going to use his leg experience and commitment to serving Vermonters in any way he can," said Savage. "He's pleased to have been successful in the passage of a couple amendments within his first 100 days in office."