The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman

The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman


Rep. Peter Welch on legislating during a national crisis

September 16, 2020

Peter Welch has been Vermont's lone Congressional representative since 2006. Welch is the Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus and serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. He’s a member of the House Progressive Caucus. Faced with the increasingly visible effects of the climate crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, the rise of white supremacy and other threats, Welch says, "I'm extremely worried. I've not seen anything like this in my lifetime." Welch has clashed with the Trump administration, and he is concerned about the president's attempts to undermine the integrity of the upcoming election. "We have a president," Welch says, "who does not believe in democracy and is doing everything he can to erode it and to kill it."