In The News

Vermont’s lone congressman said it’s time for Congress to debate if the U.S. should go to war in Syria. U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Monday that, in light of recent attacks by ISIS that claimed the lives of nearly 200 people in Beirut and Paris, Congress needs to discuss what role the United States should play in response. “Congress has to debate an authorization to use military force,” Welch said. “We’ve been on the sidelines, and I’ve been advocating for a congressional debate to take place and I think this is going to intensify the urgency of Congress doing that.”

Congressman Peter Welch has done his due diligence. He has studied the circumstances on the ground in Syria and surrounding countries. He has traveled to the region as part of a congressional oversight trip. He has visited centers for refugees on the Syrian-Turkey border. The Vermont Democrat, who serves on the Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has gone out of his way to engage in debates, discussions, and inquiries regarding US policy in the region.

Passenger rail service to Burlington is four years away, state and federal officials said Monday. Vermont’s congressional delegation announced they had secured a $10 million grant for the Western rail corridor. “I am so proud and so excited at Rutland’s persistence paying off,” Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Monday after jointly announcing the grant with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt. “Lots of people have reason to be proud of this grant.”

By Jack Thurston

RICHMOND, Vt.—Calling unreliable landline phone service an "epidemic" in rural America, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, is co-sponsoring legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that he predicted will improve service.