Online Chat
Fisher Elementary School 4th Graders
March 21, 2001

Sen Leahy: Hi Bob, Senator Leahy will be with us shortly. He is voting on the Senate floor.

Sen Leahy: Bob I just voted and am ready to go - please excuse any of my typos

FisherElemSchool: Good afternoon, Senator. Greetings from sunny Arlington, where we still have huge snow piles and spring does not seem real yet.

Sen Leahy: I was at my home in Vermont over the weekend - had to shovel snow from in front of the house to look out the window!

FisherElemSchool: You are visiting today with the 16 students of Mrs. Susan Bauer at Fisher School. Mr. Phelps (Bob), our computer teacher is helping us communicate with you online.

Sen Leahy: Thanks. Mrs. Bauer do any of the students have a question?

FisherElemSchool: The questions we will ask today have come from several sources: the students themselves, their parents, and teachers. (Perhaps you will be able to identify which group asked which question.)

To begin: Each week in class we read the news magazine Time for Kids. One of the articles we read recently was about drilling for oil in Alaska. Some of us are worried about what drilling might do to the animals that live there. What's your opinion and what can we do to protect the land and wildlife?

Sen Leahy: I don't feel we need to drill in the arctic preserve. The very little extra we would goet in oil could be made up by tougher conservation methods here in the United States [higher av

Sen Leahy: average fuel consumption for our cars, better insulation, more eficient motors etc.

Sen Leahy: should be "efficient"

FisherElemSchool: We support you in that.

We have spent a lot of time this year talking about the effects of smoking on kids and what it takes to refuse a cigarette. What can be done to help kids and families with this temptation?

Sen Leahy: It helps if the parents don't smoke and set a good example. Unfortunately peer pressue sometimes gets kids hooked - and they may never get off. The best thing is to never start. If someone has ever seen a person die of lung cancer they would never smoke.

FisherElemSchool: We watched your video on "a day in the life of a senator." You certainly are busy! We would like to know what is the best part of your day -- and the worst part.

Sen Leahy: This is one of the best parts talking with you. I look forward to these online chats - and have even passed up meetings with the President on some occasions to do them. But everything here is very interesting and I work with wonderful men and women in my office . Every day we tackle new items and yesterday I was in several parts of Vermont which i enjoyed.

FisherElemSchool: We were interested to learn about your work on banning land mines. We didn't know much about the and would like to learn more. Could you send us some more info.? And what is your plan to get rid of the remaining land mines?

Sen Leahy: I will mail you some landmine material. They are a terrible weapon and usually kill and maim civilians. A lot of children your age lose their legs or arms or even their lives in places like Cambodia and Mozambique from land mines. Take a look at my web site and i have a lot of info on landmines. Hopefully we will be able to get countries together to ban landmines and clean up the ones in the ground.

FisherElemSchool: Here we are chatting with you via the Internet. In our school we have only four computers that are able to go online and only one phone line for computers in the whole school. None of our classrooms are online -- only our very nice computer lab. We learned that you are known as the "Cyber Senator." What can small towns like Arlington do to get more kids connected?

Sen Leahy: I am trying to get more federal and state funds so all schools can be adequately wired. In our state of Vermont we need to wire all schools so we can keep up with the rest of the country. We live in one of the most beautiful places anywhere but we need the connection to the rest of the world and we need it to provide the jobs Vermont needs to grow.

FisherElemSchool: What do you think about some Vermonters wanting to make it illegal to burn the U.S. flag?

Sen Leahy: I wish everyone would respect our flag. It is illegal for someone to come and take your flag [or the one in front of the school] and burn it. It is not illegal for someone to burn there own flag.

FisherElemSchool: How do you feel about standardized tests for students? We will be testing statewide in fourth grade for the next two weeks.

Sen Leahy: I don't think we need a law to ban burning. We should be willing to respect our country and its symbols without a law making us do it.

Sen Leahy: Standardized tests give us an indication of how the school does. More important than the tests [and people can teach to the test which proves nothing] is having good teachers who inspire students and parents who work with their children to help them learn.

Sen Leahy: I have time for one more and than have to go back to the Senate.

FisherElemSchool: We just finished studying about China and our room is decorated with lanterns and a neat pagoda entrance. We learned a lot about the giant panda. Have you seen the giant pandas at the National Zoo yet?

Sen Leahy: I have seen the Pandas. I took my three year old grandson there on his birthday and he got to feed one of them a carrot. It was very exciting and I am impressed with what the Smithsonian is doing to help preserve Panda habitat in China. I hope they succeed.

Sen Leahy: I am very impressed with your questions. It shows you are bright students and have great teachers. I wish you all the best and hope I can visit your school some time. Enjoy the rest of the day.

FisherElemSchool: Thank you for your time and attention. Check out our website for an article about our visit.