Edmund B. Welch is Legislative Director for the Passenger Vessel Association of Alexandria, VA, and also provides representational services before Congress and the U.S. Executive Branch for other maritime and environmental interests. From 1975 to 1995, he served in staff capacities for the U.S. House of Representatives, including 12 years as Chief Counsel for the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries for the late Chairman Walter B. Jones. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and its law school.