Welch rallies for vets, new moose permit bill

Author: Andrea Glaessner

Hailing from the state with the highest per capita war-death rate in the nation, these Vermont soldiers certainly do not have it easy. But despite the immense danger they face on a daily basis, Vermont soldiers fighting in Iraq do not ask for much. When Congressman Peter Welch shared a meal with Vermont soldiers on his second trip to Iraq last January, they finally had a chance to make a wish to their enthusiastic legislator. "Is there anything I can do?" Welch asked, almost pleading, with the soldiers.

Finally, Spc. Clinton Holt, a Plainfield farmer currently on a tour of duty in Iraq spoke up and made a simple request - a permit to hunt moose upon his return to Vermont. Each year, only about 1,200 out of the 12,000 permit applicants are awarded the permits required in order to hunt moose by The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, making them extremely hard to come by. According to Welch, as quoted in the the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, "He really was hesitant to say anything because he has no expectations. He's one of these quiet, taciturn Vermonters. But finally he says, 'Well, if I could get a moose permit, I'd really like that.'"

After returning home to meet with representatives in the State legislature and sharing Holt's story with Rep. Margaret Cheney, a Norwich Democrat, the wheels were set in motion. Moved by the simple request of a hardworking soldier, Cheney began crafting legislation that would set aside five of Vermont's 1,000-plus moose permits for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And thus H.788 was born.

To be precise, the bill does not actually put the moose bill in the hands of the veterans, but, according to Welch's press manager Andrew Savage, "It gives the vets a better shot at getting a moose permit, [though] there is still a lottery."

Welch's agenda in Iraq did not originally include a stint as the Santa of hunting permits. According to Savage, the purpose of the Congressman's trip was primarily to assess the political and military situation and to gain a better understanding of the Iraq refugee dilemma facing U.S. defense forces in Iraq.

Welch's move to engage the state legislature in granting Holt's wish was certainly "a rare thing," said Savage. Lately, Welch has been focusing his efforts on college affordability, closing an overseas contracting loophole and ending tax breaks for big oil companies.

But Welch still found time to join the members of the Vermont General Assembly, Governor Jim Douglas and Waneta Mayhew, Holt's mother, for a bill-signing ceremony in Plainfield on April 4. "I commend the Vermont legislature and Governor for their bipartisan work to see this idea through from a cafeteria in Iraq to a convenience store in Plainfield," said Welch in a press release on the bill-signing ceremony.