Opinion

Montpelier, VT. (September 16th, 2013)- Joined by higher education leaders from across Vermont, Representative Peter Welch announced legislation this morning at the Community College of Vermont in Montpelier that addresses the nation’s sky rocketing college costs. Across the nation, college costs have risen 1,120 percent over the last 30 years, with outstanding student debt now at $1.2 trillion.

“A college education, the gateway to the American middle class, is slipping further and further from the reach of working families. Federal loans and grants are a lifeline for college students. But students continue to lose ground because financial aid increases are being eaten up by college tuition increases,” Welch said. “This legislation creates a partnership between the federal government and our college administrators to cut unnecessary federal regulatory costs and encourage cost saving innovations.”

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 15 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today issued the following statement after Lawrence Summers withdrew from consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman:

“I applaud Larry Summers for withdrawing his name from consideration. The truth is that it was unlikely he would have been confirmed by the Senate. What the American people want now is a Fed chairman prepared to stand up to the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, not a Wall Street insider whose deregulation efforts helped pave the way for a horrendous financial crisis and the worst economic downturn in the country since the Great Depression. The Fed now must help develop policies which create millions of decent-paying jobs and rebuild the middle class.”

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 15 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that the Senate must call the bluff of House Republicans demanding deeper cuts in Head Start, Meals on Wheels and other programs for working families.

A proposal set for a House vote this week includes the deeper spending cuts in a continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down after the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The proposal would lock in across-the-board cuts known as sequestration but carve out an exception for the Pentagon, which would get a $20-billion boost.

September 12, 2013

“I’ve always felt that the multiple billions spent on missile defense are a monumental waste of money, on technologically challenged systems, and I am emphatically against putting one of these sites in Vermont.”

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[Text of letter to Senator Leahy, below:]

Washington, DC – Congressman Peter Welch will hold a telephone town hall meeting this evening with Vermonters regarding the President’s plan to respond to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

To join the call, dial (toll-free) 877-229-8493 and enter PIN code 13785.

To Senators : Pat Leahy and Bernard Sanders and Representative: Peter Welch

First off I want to make it perfectly clear that I am against supporting death directly or indirectly, regardless of who did it. However, the elephant in the room, the huge issue here that NO ONE wants to acknowledge is …

Did Assad’s forces do it?

The fact that this fundamental question continues to remain unaddressed by you is very telling. I wrote an open letter to all of you just a few days ago. This letter was also sent out to local news media. I got form letter responses back from every one of you. Not one ZERO, NADA NONE of you felt that this question needed to be addressed.

How Horrible for us all that Obama looks more and more like Bush.   And don’t be distracted by the chemical weapons.  When he finally gets his incontrovertible “proof” that the Syrian government used poison gas, remember, Obama himself says it is a civil war. 

He has no humanitarian motive here: to die from poison is no worse than being blasted or burnt or bled by other kinds of weapons.  Obama’s plan will only lead to more war, more revenge, more poverty and wasted dollars at home thousands every second, more and more destroyed innocent lives. 

No one should be fooled by this new rush to war.  Don’t be fooled, and don’t be slienced, and don’t be morally castrated !   Show your heart ! Show yourself ! Show your guts ! 

Submitted to: Burlington Free Press, Rutland Herald, Brattleboro Reformer, iBrattleboro

September 5, 2013

Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Bernard Sanders
Representative Peter Welch

Assad is winning the war in Syria without the use of chemical weapons. Further he knows that using chemical weapons would invite foreign intervention into this war. This would be an extraordinarily stupid thing to do. Assad maybe many things but NO ONE has ever called him stupid.

Congressman Peter Welch made the following statement in response to President Obama’s remarks this afternoon on Syria:

“Congress has a clear Constitutional responsibility to authorize military action. Consistent with this profound responsibility, I have strongly advocated that President Obama send any plan for military intervention in Syria to Congress for review and authorization. I am pleased that he has now agreed to do so. I will be an active participant in the forthcoming debate and will be mindful throughout of the enormous sacrifice we ask every day of the men and women of America’s military and their families.”

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 – Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement today after President Barack Obama announced that he will ask Congress to authorize military strikes against Syria:

“The use of chemical weapons by the Assad dictatorship is inhumane and a violation of international law. However, at this point in time, I need to hear more from the president as to why he believes it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria’s bloody and complicated civil war. I look forward to the Senate debate that will be taking place in the very near future.”