Online Chat
Georgia Elementary School
May 7, 1997

[Senator_Leahy]  Hi, how are you in Georgia?

[Senator_Leahy]  Missy I hear you are on the net with me.

[GEMS]  First I would like to tell you about a sundial we are building with Kate Pond. Do you remember her?

[Senator_Leahy]  I should explain that I do my own typing so if I make mistakes please forgive me.

[Senator_Leahy]  I know Kate Pond very well. We grew up together in Montpelier and she is one of Vermont's best artists [actually one of the best in the country]

[Senator_Leahy]  There is a piece of Kate's sculture spelling the word Vermont on my door of my office here in Washington.

[EmilyC]  Does someone have a question for the Senator?

[GEMS]  A group of 5th and 6th graders have designed a model of the sundial on it we have pictures of animals in Vermont.

[GEMS]  yes we have questions coming.

[Senator_Leahy]  I'd like to see that. If you have a picture please send it to me or I may get a chance to come by and see it on one of my trips home to Vermont.

[GEMS]  You are invited to our sundial opening on June 9 at one o'clock.

[GEMS]  Do you think you will ever run for president?

[Senator_Leahy]  I would like to but the Senate will be in session so I will have to be in Washington. I bet you are all excited by it.

[Senator_Leahy]  No I won't run for President. I think it is important that I work at representing all of us Vermonters here in the U.S. Senate.

[GEMS]  As a Vermont Senator do you have enough time to spend with your family?

[Senator_Leahy]  I wish I had more time with my family but when they were young I always found time to be with them as they did homework, went to school plays and games and we have always gathered as a family at our tree farm in Middlesex. My wife and I have been married 35 years and our children are grown but we are together a lot.

[GEMS]  This is Chelsea. What do you think about Vermont's education system?

[Senator_Leahy]  My oldest son and his wife joined my wife and I for a baseball game Friday.

[Senator_Leahy]  All education systems need to constantly improve Chelsea. But you have a lot of advantages I did not have going to school in Vermont - this computer chat is one of them.

[GEMS]  Hi this is Logan. Do you think we should change to electric cars?

[Senator_Leahy]  Logan we are experimenting with electric cars in Vermont and across the country. Once we solve the problem of battery storage you will see a lot more electric cars but I expect we will always have a combination of gas and diesel and electric cars.

[GEMS]  Do you think it will happen in the next 5 to 10 years?

[Senator_Leahy]  California is already requiring the use of more electric cars and that will give an incentive for the rest of the coountry. As we go into the next century you will see a lot more electric cars and trucks.

[GEMS]  Hi this is Eric. What made you want to be a senator?

[Senator_Leahy]  Eric I have always wanted to be in public office - I was a prosecutor in Vermont - and felt that the US Senate was the place where I could do the most for Vermont because it is the one place where Vermont's voice is equal to all other states.

[Senator_Leahy]  California has two Senators with over 30 million people. We have two with only a half million people yet our voice is equal in the Senate.

[GEMS]  Is washington supporting what tobacco componies are saying "Smoking is as addictive as gummy bears?"

[Senator_Leahy]  I don't think many people in Washington are believing much of what the tobbaco companies are saying. The gummy bear remark one of them made was about as dumb as anything I have ever seen.

[GEMS]  Hi this is Aubrey. What is Washington doing to help Vermont farmers? Do we help them with money?

[GEMS]  That's what we thought about gummy bears also.

[Senator_Leahy]  Aubrey the best thing we can do for Vermont dairy farmers is to implement the North East Dairy Compact. Washington also spends money on agriculture research which helps every kind of farmer in Vermont.

[GEMS]  Which president has been the most effective?

[EmilyC]  We have time for 2 more questions...

[GEMS]  Hi this is Zak. What is the north East dairy Compact?

[Senator_Leahy]  President's show their effectiveness based on the times they are there. One could point to the tragedy of the Civil War as being very bad but President Lincoln held the country together which was very good. Franklin Roosevelt helped make the United States the leading world power.

[Senator_Leahy]  Zak the North East Dairy Compact is an agreement among the North East states including Vermont to help set the price farmers will get for their milk and the price consumers will pay for it. What other senators talk to students in their homestate online?

[Senator_Leahy]  There are only 3 or 4 of the 100 Senators who do and I was the first. Of couse I assumed Vermont students are the best in the country with the best teachers so it was easy to go with my home state.

[GEMS]  Thank you for spending time talking to us.

[Senator_Leahy]  This has been the highlight of my day and I have really enjoye d it good luck with the sun dial.

[GEMS]  bye

[Senator_Leahy]  Good by to all of you and good luck in school.