News

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced the Digital Platform Commission Act, legislation to create an expert federal agency to provide comprehensive regulation of digital platforms to protect consumers, promote competition, and safeguard the public interest. Amid calls…

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today introduced the Supporting All Producers (SAP) Act, legislation to require the United States Department Agriculture (USDA) to consult with maple producers when determining education and research priorities for the Acer Access and Development…

U.S. Senate / https://www.welch.senate.gov/Vermont Senator Peter Welch's official Senate photo WASHINGTON, DC - Vermont Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led a hearing Wednesday in Washington on the challenges of expanding rural broadband. Testimony from providers across the country included those working to deploy high-speed internet throughout…

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) convened his first hearing as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee this week on the need to expand access to broadband in rural communities. The hearing marks the first in a series on…

BURLINGTON, VT - Today, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vt.-AL), announced that NEK Community Broadband (NEKCB) will receive Vermont’s first ever United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network in Caledonia, Essex, and…

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kans.) today introduced the bipartisan ReConnecting Rural America Act, legislation to reauthorize and reinforce the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect Loan and Grant Program. ReConnect plays a central role in expanding access…

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led the Vermont and New Hampshire congressional delegations in sending a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Denis R. McDonough today, urging the VA to use authority granted under the Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022 to…