Latest news with #PeterWelch
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senator Welch to hold community events in Manchester and Rutland May 28
RUTLAND, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – Tariffs will be center stage as Vermont's junior senator talks with business owners, manufacturers, and community members to listen to their concerns first hand on Wednesday. Two events are planned. The first, in Manchester starting at 1:00 p.m., is an invitation-only event where Senator Peter Welch will be joining together local businesses and manufacturers at the Orvis fishing rod shop. The second will be at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland starting at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public with RSVP (link here). Senator Welch has previously hosted roundtables in Stowe, Newport, St. Albans, and virtually. Vermont City Marathon hits the ground running Sunday The meeting in Rutland is described as a 'community conversation' where Vermonters are welcome to discuss 'what more needs to be done to make our communities more affordable, our businesses more successful, and our families healthier and safer.' The events follow the senator's recent trip to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, where he met with Prime Minister Mark Carney. Both small business and larger corporations have expressed concern over the economic effects of the tariffs newly instituted by the Trump administration. Welch has opposed the tariffs on Canada and other countries. According to the office of the United State Trade Representative, Vermont exported $645 million in goods to Canada in 2024, by far its largest market for exports. Taiwan was a distant second at $249 million. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Welch, Sanders, Gillibrand urge federal funding for Lake Champlain programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABC22/FOX44) – Vermont Senator Peter Welch, along with his colleagues Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday asking for support for critical programs in Lake Champlain and the surrounding valley. 'Lake Champlain provides significant environmental, recreational, historic, and educational value to our region,' reads the letter. 'We have a responsibility to expand federal support for the lake so our constituents can benefit from these opportunities for generations to come.' Read the full text of the letter hereDownload The letter asks for support for the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) as well as several other programs including the Lake Champlain Sea Grant, which funds science education efforts around the area in conjunction with colleges including the University of Vermont and the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Judge in Texas frees one Vermont farm worker on bond; denies bail to two others The LCBP has been helping monitor the lake's water and wildlife for 35 years. Last year it tracked the recovery of the lake after a huge amount of sediment flowed into the lake during the July floods, as previously reported by ABC22/FOX44. The three senators as well as Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation last Congress to fund the program for another ten years, but the bill did not make it out of committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cornyn, Welch introduce the Carla Walker Act to help solve cold cases
May 22—WASHINGTON U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Peter Welch (D-VT) on Thursday introduced the Carla Walker Act, which would dedicate existing federal grant funds to support forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) DNA analysis and help solve previously unsolvable cold cases. The bill is named for Carla Walker, a Fort Worth native whose murderer was finally identified 46 years after her death with the help of this advanced technology. "Fort Worth native Carla Walker was abducted in a bowling alley and tragically murdered in 1974, but it took more than four decades and the advent of forensic genetic genealogy DNA analysis for her killer to be identified and brought to justice," said Sen. Cornyn. "I am proud to have authored this legislation, which would make this cutting-edge DNA testing technology more widely available to law enforcement so they can better identify and prosecute offenders, solve cold cases, and bring closure to victims' families." "Advancements in forensic DNA technology have revolutionized our ability to combat crime. In Vermont, detectives were able to use forensic genetic genealogy analysis to help provide answers to a family who thought they might never come. We've also seen how this technology can be a powerful tool in giving those wrongly accused a chance to clear their names," said Sen. Welch. "Our bipartisan bill will help investigators across the country harness the incredible power of FGG technology to crack cold cases and deliver justice to countless victims and families, and I'm thankful for Senator Cornyn's leadership on it." U.S. Congressman Wesley Hunt (TX-38) is leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives. Background: Typically, when a suspect's identity is unknown, a crime laboratory uploads the genetic material recovered from a crime scene into the FBI's national database to search for DNA matches between the forensic sample and any known offenders. While this traditional form of forensic DNA profiling only examines 13-20 Short tandem repeat (STR) DNA markers, forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) technology examines over half a million Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that span the entirety of the human genome. It does so by cross-referencing shared blocks of SNP markers to identify relatives of the genetic profile by uncovering shared blocks of DNA. This enables criminal investigators to build family trees that ultimately help determine the sample's identity and solve cases. Carla Walker was abducted from a bowling alley parking lot in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 17, 1974. Her body was found three days later in a drainage ditch 30 minutes south of Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Police Department was able to collect a few forensic samples and clothing items from the crime scene, but law enforcement could not solve the murder due to limited forensic technology at the time. Carla's brother, Jim Walker, never stopped searching for answers and nearly 50 years later, FGG DNA analysis was conducted on the last remaining DNA on a piece of Walker's clothing, which led to a successful DNA match with the McCurley family and ultimately identified Glen McCurley, Jr. as the killer, who confessed in 2021 and died in prison on July 14, 2023. Sen. Cornyn's Carla Walker Act would create a pilot program to make this cutting-edge FGG DNA analysis more widely available to investigative agencies to: — Aid in resolving previously unsolvable cold cases; — Assist in the identification of criminals; — Seek justice for previously unidentified victims; — Help exonerate wrongly accused suspects; — And bring closure for the victims' loved ones.
Axios
09-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Senate Dems blare alarm for Meals on Wheels funding
Senate Democrats are blaring the alarm on potential Republican cuts to two critical safety net programs in a new open letter to voters on Friday. Why it matters: A group of 46 Senate Democrats said in the letter that funding for programs like Meals on Wheels, Head Start and others is on the chopping block for the GOP's budget reconciliation plans. The Democrats, led by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), argued Congress shouldn't slash funding to the safety net programs in order to pay for extending tax cuts. "Congress should not give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans by ripping away programs that almost 25 million Americans — close to 50% of whom are children — rely on for basic needs," the letter stated. Zoom in: The lawmakers singled out Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), which provide support for Meals on Wheels and other programs, as two critical funding sources under threat by congressional Republicans. Republicans have adopted a budget resolution that directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion in spending, reductions that would most likely impact Medicaid and other programs. The big picture: Democrats' top attack against Republicans has been about the potential cuts to Medicaid, but lawmakers argue an even broader range of social programs are at risk. Cuts to TANF and SSBG, the Democrats said, would affect children and seniors by slashing access to child care and early education, cutting funding for services that combat elder abuse and restricting access to Meals on Wheels programs. Between the lines: Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) was the lone lawmaker who caucuses with Senate Democrats who did not sign onto the letter.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Democrats question DOJ Civil Rights Division shake-up
A group of seven Democratic senators are questioning the Department of Justice (DOJ) over its shake-up to its Civil Rights Division, including policy changes and new staff arrangements. The senators, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter on Friday to DOJ officials requesting information about the department's Civil Rights Division. 'According to public reporting, at least five of the Division's sections have received directives via email to employees which change long-standing Division enforcement objectives,' the senators wrote. 'The five sections are meant to protect voting rights, prevent discrimination by federal funding recipients, investigate illegal bias in housing, prohibit discrimination in education, and defend the rights of those with disabilities.' The letter was signed by Democrats Sens. Peter Welch (Vt.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Cory Booker (N.J.), Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.). Their letter comes after the Trump administration changed staff and undertook several policy changes at the Civil Rights Division. Roughly a dozen career leaders were removed from their positions, some pushed into unrelated roles with many resigning and leaving some areas without leadership. The shake-up comes just weeks after Harmeet Dhillon, President Trump's assistant attorney general for civil rights, was sworn in. The senators note in their letter that the changes at the division may be inconsistent with Congress's goals when enacting landmark civil rights legislation. The lawmakers also sounded the alarm over the lack of established officials in leadership at the division, noting the staff changes 'mirror a similar pattern' across the DOJ. 'The Division relies on the abilities and knowledge of its career staff to carry out the great responsibility of enforcing the nation's civil rights laws without regard to politics,' they wrote. The senators noted that division employees were reportedly given a second voluntary buyout opportunity, which 'appear to be an attempt to cajole career officials' to leave the DOJ so its work can be changed. The lawmakers requested that the DOJ officials schedule a briefing with the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution to discuss the changes in the coming days. Separately, the Democrats called on Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), the chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to hold an oversight hearing with Dhillon on the matter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
