Peter Welch

On December 18, 2019, Welch voted for both articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump.

On February 19, 2016, Welch endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party nomination. He endorsed him again for the 2020 nomination.

Welch is married to Margaret Cheney, a former member of the Vermont House of Representatives who was appointed to the Vermont Public Service Board in 2013. His first wife, Joan Smith, died of cancer in 2004. Welch has five stepchildren from his first marriage and three from his second.

He was a partner for 30 years in the personal injury law firm Welch, Graham & Manby in White River Junction, Vermont. Welch's legal career is the basis for the legal adventures of one of the lead characters in Jacob M. Appel's satiric novel, The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up (2012).

In the 110th Congress, Welch was a member of the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

In 2010, and again in 2011, Welch introduced proposals to adopt as US government policy a position that contracts or grants should not be awarded to individuals or companies who violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977.

On the issue of abortion, Welch was given a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America. However, the National Right to Life Committee gave him a rating of 0. Welch voted no on the November 7, 2009 amendment to President Obama's health care bill that prohibited federally funded abortions. On the issue of gay rights, PFLAG and the Human Rights campaign rated Welch as 100% supportive of their position. Welch has sustained a liberal stance on the issues of abortion and gay rights despite his identification as a Roman Catholic.

Welch was re-elected in 2008 with no major-party opposition, becoming the first Democrat to be reelected to the House from Vermont since 1848. He was in the unusual position of being both the Democratic and Republican nominee for the seat, due to Republican voters writing his name in on the blank primary ballot.

A September 2007 search of the Library of Congress Thomas congressional bill search engine revealed Welch's sponsorship of amendments on the following topics (among others):

When Vermont's lone U.S. House member, Bernie Sanders decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2006, Welch chose to run for Sanders's seat. He defeated Republican Martha Rainville in the November 7, 2006 general election 53% to 45% in a race where both candidates pledged to be entirely positive. Welch was the first Democrat to represent Vermont in the House since 1961, and only the second since 1853 (though Sanders caucused with the Democrats).

Welch continued to practice law and returned to politics in 2001, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Vermont Senate. He was reelected in 2002 and 2004 and served as Senate President from 2003 to 2007. In 2006, Welch made a successful run for the U.S. House of Representatives, winning the election to succeed Bernie Sanders, who was elected to the United States Senate.

In 1990, Welch won the Democratic nomination for Governor of Vermont, but lost in the general election to Republican Richard Snelling.

In 1988, Welch left the Vermont Senate to make an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Vermont's at-large congressional district.

Welch served in the Vermont Senate from 1981 to 1989, including terms as Minority Leader. He was the Senate's president pro tempore from 1985 to 1989, the first Democrat to hold the position. In 1988, he gave up his seat to run for the United States House of Representatives and lost the primary for the Democratic nomination to Paul N. Poirier. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont in 1990, and lost the general election to Republican Richard A. Snelling.

In 1980, Welch was elected to the Vermont Senate as a representative from Windsor County. In his second term, Welch was chosen as the Minority Leader, and was chosen as President pro tempore after Democrats gained control of the Senate. Welch was the first Democrat to serve as Vermont's Senate President, since Vermont was a bastion for the Whigs and then the Republicans for more than 100 years beginning in the 1830s.

He was an actor, known for North and South (1966), Doctor Who (1963) and Spy Trap (1972).

Peter Francis Welch (born May 2, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Vermont's at-large congressional district since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has been a major figure in Vermont politics for over three decades.

Peter Welch was born on March 30, 1922 in Pancras, London, England as Peter William Welch.