Online Chat
Lowell Graded School 8th Graders
May 2, 2001
lowell_8th_graders: Our 8th grade class consists of 8 students. Their
names are Alain, Kylie, Eric, Sherrine, Dan, Kevin, Andrew, and Jody.
Sen Leahy: Hi, just got back from the Judiciary committee and glad to be
with you.
lowell_8th_graders: Hi Senator Leahy. It's nice to be able to talk with
you.
Sen Leahy: This is the best part of the day for me being able to join all
of you - but Sue you have to excuse my typing mistakes. I'm a better Senator
than a typist!
Sen Leahy: Hope you all have a great time when you come to Washington.
lowell_8th_graders: I'll start with one of our questions from Kylie. She
wants to know where you would recommend we visit while in Washington.
Sen Leahy: Kylie we can get a package of things off to the class and we
will mail it to you today. Certainly the Smithsonian , all the monuments and the
Capitol and the White House are neat. Just being in Washington is a thrill.
lowell_8th_graders: A question from Eric: Were you prepared for your job
before becoming a Senator, and how were you prepared? What do you need for
education to become a Senator?
Sen Leahy: Eric there is no perfect preparation. Each Senator handles his
or her job differently. You have to be able to read and understand well [I read
hundreds of pages of material a day] and be willing to work a lot of evenings
and most weekends. You also have to love the challenges.
Sen Leahy: I think I have a great job and am very thankful to Vermont for
allowing me to be here. There are always exciting things here. I was a lawyer
and than a prosecutor for coming here. Ultimately being a lifelong Vermonter
gave me the values that sustain me.
lowell_8th_graders: Our next question is from Andrew: What are some
things that a Senator does?
Sen Leahy: Meant to say I was a prosecutor before coming here.
Sen Leahy: Andrew today I have had meetings with key staff members, I
have sat on a committee that will vote on the new asst. Attorney General for
anti trust and quizzed the Secy of Veteran's Administration about the amount of
money our veteran's will get for the VA hospital in White River. Later I will
speak on the Senate floor and than meet with President Bush's counsel to decide
which judges of the President's will have hearings.
lowell_8th_graders: Here is a question from Jody: What are the parts of
the job that are the most difficult?
Sen Leahy: Jody a lot of the issues I vote on are very close calls. In
Vermont half the people may want me to vote one way and half of my fellow
Vermonters want me to go the other way. I have to decide what I think makes most
sense. There are also far more things going on [sometimes four or five hearings
at the same time] and I have to decide what is the best use of my time.
lowell_8th_graders: Here is our next question from Alain: Has the job
become easier over the years?
Sen Leahy: Alain the job is easier in one way. The more seniority you
have the more things you can accomplish and the more knowledgeable you are. It
is more difficult in another way. As our country grows, and as we have become
the world's superpower there are far more challenges in the united States to our
economy and more challenges to our foreign policy overseas.
lowell_8th_graders: Our next question is from Sherrine: How do you feel
that the tax cut would effect Vermonter's
Sen Leahy: Sherrine most Vermonters, understandably, would like to pay
less taxes. I was concerned that the original tax plan would have been paid for
by eliminating a lot of programs from law enforcement to agriculture that we
rely on - and substitute only a tiny amount of money for each of us. It is now
being redesigned and, if there is an early reduction for the average Vermonter
it may well help our economy.
lowell_8th_graders: As a member of the Agriculture comm. can you explain why we
are experiencing a drop in the milk prices? This is from Dan and Mr.
Boskind.
Sen Leahy: Dan and Mr. Boskind there is a study that is being released
today by the University of Conn. that shows how some of the major processors
like Suiza have moved the profits up considerably for themselves without the
same increase for our farmers. I discussed this at length in the committee this
morning with the anti-trust nominee.
Sen Leahy: Time for one more question
lowell_8th_graders: Our last question is from Kevin: Can you tell us how
many people or groups of people do you see on an average day?
Sen Leahy: Kevin some days I see hundreds of people with some in groups.
We had almost 80 Vermonters in last week for a coffee hour. There are a lot of
one-on-one meetings too with other Senators, the President, head's of
departments and so forth. Every day is different and it depends whether I am in
Vermont or not. This weekend I had a number of meetings in Vermont on Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday morning and probably spoke to or with about a thousand
people.
Sen Leahy: I really appreciated the opportunity to be with you. You live
in one of the prettiest parts of our state and you are fortunate to have such a
good school and such good teachers. Hope to visit you some day. Have a great
rest of the day.
lowell_8th_graders: Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to
chat with us. We look forward to meeting you next week on Fri. May 11th at
2:00p.m. while we are visiting Washington. This was exciting for all of
us. Thanks again and have a great day Senator Leahy!
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