Schmoozing Goes Global

• By Alison McSherry
• Roll Call Staff
• Nov. 30, 2009, Midnight

In 1987, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) — at the time, the president of the Vermont state Senate — was given an offer that he couldn’t refuse. He was invited by the American Council of Young Political Leaders to travel behind the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union, where he would have a chance to meet with political leaders.