Welch said he spent his five-week break from the bustle of Washington meeting with constituents at parades, fairs and general stores discussing what should be done in Congress. The answers were clear, he said.
"I heard from Vermonters about middle class concerns," Welch said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Three main concerns
He said Vermonters approached with three main concerns: health care reform, the cost of college tuition and the country’s energy future.
Debate over how to reform health care dominated the congressional recess, with many lawmakers facing angry constituents demanding answers about what several different reform bills in Congress contain. Vermonters are concerned, too, Welch said, but willing to have an honest discussion.
"They’ll tell you directly and emphatically where they stand ... but Vermonters are civil," he said.
Nationally, the most vociferous opposition has been to a proposed government-run health insurance plan, known as a public option, that would compete with private insurance plans to lower costs. Republicans have collectively opposed the idea, and moderate Democrats appear to be wavering.
Welch said he continues to believe the inclusion of a public option will be "a very useful tool to keep the insurance companies honest." Such a plan will allow the American people more choices, he said.
Many liberals in Congress are demanding the public option, and are threatening to vote against any bill that doesn’t contain it. Despite his strong support, Welch said is not willing to commit his own vote either way until he sees a final bill.
"I’m not taking a pledge that some of my colleagues have until I see a final bill," Welch said. "I’m going to use the seat at the table they’ve given me to fight for the best bill, I believe that includes a public option."
Welch said he spent some time during the recess "putting aside apprehensions based on misinformation." He said he explained to some people that bills in Congress do not contain "Death Panels," will not force people to leave their doctors and do not provide insurance to illegal immigrants. All were concerns voiced by some Vermonters, he said.
Welch said he will continue to push for a health care reform bill that looks to rein in insurance companies, too. He said a reform bill should require insurance companies to "play by a set of rules that work for the consumer." Insurance companies must offer coverage to everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and must be prohibited "from yanking it when folks get sick."
Despite the political wrangling, Welch said he remains optimistic. "This Congress is farther along than any Congress since Medicare was passed in 1964," he said. "The question is whether we want to make health care work for everyday Americans and small businesses, or if we just want to continue the free ride for Big Pharma and the big insurance companies."
Welch said he wants to see Congress move forward on an energy bill that passed the House earlier this year but is now stalled in Congress. Not moving forward with the bill will drop the U.S. further behind in developing alternative energy sources, he said.
"In the last six weeks I’ve seen half a dozen articles on China moving ahead of us on developing clean energy," Welch said.
College tuition is becoming a problem for more and more Vermont families as well, according to Welch. He said tuition is going up at nearly three times the rate of inflation and "families are on edge."
Reforms that "will take subsidies away from big banks and give it to the kids and their parents" are long overdue.
"Congress has to deal on a day-to-day basis with the challenges to the middle class. These other issues are very related to health care," Welch said. "The things that America needs ... are all of a piece about maintaining America’s historic commitment to sustaining the middle class."
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