The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: 37th Annual Legislative Seminar - Senator Peter Welch, D-VT

Well, Peter, well, thank you so much for being here again.

And if you guys heard me tell this story last year, Peter and I came in as freshman members together.

We were getting to know one another.

You start developing these relationships.

And Peter asked me one day, he goes, hey, now this is, you know, this is 07.

And he says, hey, would you like to go for a run? So we were in the house gym.

I'm thinking, yeah, the next day will be fine.

I had a foot injury.

And so, you know, running long distance wasn't a great, you know, I wasn't encouraged by that.

But I'm thinking, you know, Peter's a few years older than I am.

This will be fun.

We'll enjoy one another.

We'll probably walk more than run.

You know, that's what I'm thinking.

Well, biggest mistake, I'm putting my shoes on and I look up and here comes Peter into my section of the locker room and he's got a Marathon T-shirt on.

I'm quickly trying to decide how in the world am I gonna get out of this? But then we start running and Peter's so inquisitive and wants to know about me and I'm trying to learn more about where he, you know, about his state and community.

And about halfway through it, I finally grabbed his arm and I looked at him.

I said, look, if you don't stop talking and asking me questions, I'll not make it back to the Capitol.

developed a great relationship.

And I think there will be many, many people on Capitol Hill will tell you this, if there is one Senator or one former House member that just exudes the integrity of what it is to be a statesman and to have character and integrity, it's Peter Welch.

He is one of the greatest, nicest members of that entire body.

And so welcome.

You wonder why I come back.

That was my NFL tryout.

When they got my size chart, I got nixed.