Welch named to House Energy and Commerce Committee
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: January 7, 2009
MONTPELIER — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch will start his second term in Washington, D.C., this month as a new member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Welch, who was sworn into office for his sophomore term in the U.S. House on Tuesday afternoon, was appointed to the committee that same day by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
The move puts Welch front and center on a committee that oversees new legislation on energy policy, health care, telecommunications, the environment and trade. The committee also has jurisdiction over five Cabinet-level departments and seven other agencies.
Many of President-elect Barack Obama's legislative initiatives will move through this committee.
"This committee has the broadest jurisdiction in Congress," Welch said during a phone interview Tuesday morning. "It covers a vast range of issues important to Vermonters, including health care, global warming, constructing a 21st-century energy policy and establishing universal broadband."
Welch joins the Energy and Commerce Committee just as it undergoes a change in leadership. U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., ousted longtime committee chairman Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in November, just weeks after the election of Democrat Barack Obama as the new president.
The move was a victory for environmentalists who see Waxman as more politically progressive than Dingell, who held that position since 1981. Welch, who was a member of another committee Waxman chaired — House Governmental Oversight — was a strong supporter of Waxman's bid for chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Welch said he was part of Waxman's "campaign team" to become the new committee chair. In the build-up to the secret Democratic House caucus vote in November, Welch said he personally contacted more than 60 members to persuade them to support Waxman.
He described Waxman as a mentor to him when he first came to Washington as a freshman House member soon after the Democrats regained control of the U.S. Congress in the 2006 midterm elections.
"He's practical and knowledgeable," Welch said.
In a prepared statement, Waxman said he has been impressed with Welch's leadership while serving with him on the Oversight Committee.
"His exceptional ability and experience will make an important difference as we moved forward in the new Congress," Waxman said.
Welch said his appointment will "give Vermont a seat at the table" as the U.S. Congress moves on the agenda of the new president. He said he will show Congress what Vermont has done right on key issues, including energy and health care.
He noted that the state has been far ahead of the rest of the country for setting up the Clean Energy Fund — which supports schools and institutions with funding for energy efficiency and renewable projects — and health-care programs such as Catamount Health, which subsidizes insurance costs for Vermonters without insurance.
Welch plans to step down from his position on the House Committee on Rules.
Contact Daniel Barlow at daniel.barlow@rutlandherald.com.
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