Online Chat
Ferrisburgh Central School
May 26, 1999

[jorgabrianava]    Brian Asks Do you have a wife,and what is her name?

[Jennifer]  Hold on just another second.

[SenLeahy]  Brian I am married and her name is Marcelle. She was born in Newport Vermont and is a registered nurse most recently working on a medical surgical floor.

[SenLeahy]  Glad to be with all of you - I've been looking forward to this.

[milesofchardben]  So have we thank you

[jorgabrianava]  Jordan Thank You, How many terms have you been in office, and what is a term?

[SenLeahy]  Any questions I could ask for you.

[SenLeahy]  Meant any I could ANSWER for you!

[SenLeahy]  Jordan I have been in office four terms and am beginning my 5th. Each term is 6 years. I started in January 1975

[milesofchardben]  Wow, has it been a challenge!!!!!

[Joshonchel]  Chelsea Whow! Thats a long time. I was born 1988.

[SenLeahy]  Miles it has been a challenge with new issues every day. This year has seen everything from the impeaachemnt trial to the Juvenile Justice bill. But the work is always fascinating.

[jorgabrianava]  Ava How young are you?

[SenLeahy]  Chelsea I was starting my third term back than.

[Joshonchel]  Josh Cool

[mattrachmeg]  Rachel asked, Do you think we should have interfered in all the stuff going on in Kosovo?

[SenLeahy]  Ava I am 59 years old. I was 34 when I was first elected to the Senate.

[SenLeahy]  Rachel Kosovo is a very difficult issue. Milosevic is a war criminal and we and NATO could not stand by and let him continue to kill people in his own country. i do wish we could find a way to get the refugees back and to stop the fighting.

[SenLeahy]  Incidentally I do my own typing so please excuse any typos.

[mattrachmeg]  Rachel asked, Do you think we should send ground troops?

[SenLeahy]  Rachel we will have ground troops eventually. I wish they could be part of a peace agreement but the refugees will not be able to go back home without ground troops.

[mattrachmeg]  We all asked, Do you think the Surbians will fire back at us becasue thier mad at us?

[Joshonchel]  Chelsea That's sad.

[milesofchardben]  Charlie Thats sad but if it is the only way then we should do that

[mattrachmeg]  sorry about the typo!

[SenLeahy]  The Serbians would fire back if we went in now. That is why it is preferable if we could do it under a cease fire peace agreement. In any event it will be very dangerous and there will be a lot of landmines.

[Patcatandjam]  Andy What is your posistion in gun control?

[Joshonchel]  Chelsea Did you vote for the World Wide Ban on Landmines?

[milesofchardben]  Charlie Who is in favor of landminds? Why?

[SenLeahy]  Chelsea I helped to get the world wide ban through. Unfortunately the United States is not a signatory but will be eventually be - we should ban all landmines.

[SenLeahy]  We also use the Leahy War Victim fund world wide and it spends about 15million dollars a year to help victims of landmines.

[SenLeahy]  Andy I supported the record check parts of the Juvenile bill that went through the Senate last week.

[Joshonchel]  Josh Wow! that's a lot of money.

[Patcatandjam]  Caitlin What is a record check

[SenLeahy]  josh it is a lot of money but there are so many landmines worldwide that people are injured every day.

[milesofchardben]  Ben That is horrible I hope the 15million dollars and lives goes down

[SenLeahy]  Caitlin a record check is where they determine if one who wants to buy a gun has committed a serious crime before. If they have they can't buy a gun. It would also stop juveniles from having guns unless they had their parent's permission.

[SenLeahy]  Ben I would like to see the day when there are no landmines anywhere.

[Joshonchel]  Shon Why are you putting in a bill for satellite tv?

[milesofchardben]  Ben Me too

[mattrachmeg]  Sen Leahy,Are you an easy man to work for? Asked Matt, Rachel and Megan

[SenLeahy]  Shon my satellite tv bill would make it possible for those who have satellite dishes - and there are a lot in Vermont - to be able to get their local TV stations off the satellite. It would also increase competition and , I hope, bring prices down.

[jorgabrianava]  Gabrielle Who or what inspired you to become a senator?

[Joshonchel]  Chelsea Were are you on abortion? More to the right or more to the left?

[SenLeahy]  Matt, Rachel and Megan you should probably ask the people who work here. We do have the least turnover of almost any Senate office so they must think so. Everyone works very hard here and sometimnes 12-15 hour days and a lot of weekends.

[Patcatandjam]  Patcatandjam Thank You for your time good luck to you on your bill

[SenLeahy]  Gabrielle my parents and my family were my biggest inspiration. The Leahys have been in Vermont since around 1850 and I always thought being in the Senate would allow me to do the most for Vermont.

[mattrachmeg]  Hi we are Matt, Rachel and Megan jen, do you agree that Mr. Leahy is an easy man to work for?

[Jennifer]  Yes, I do agree.

[jorgabrianava]  Do you have and pets?

[SenLeahy]  I told them if they answered wrong I would lock them in their office with no food for 3 days. Shows how easy I am!

[mattrachmeg]  Thanx!!

[Joshonchel]  Joshonchel Thank you very much for your time. We had fun.

[SenLeahy]  I don't have any pets but my three children all have dogs.

[mattrachmeg]  Ha Ha

[jorgabrianava]  Your sister was my moms art teacher in high school!

[Patcatandjam]  Andy Haaa!

[Joshonchel]  josh ha, ha, ha, ha.

[milesofchardben]  Miles, Ben, CharlieThank you for your time and effert you put in.

[SenLeahy]  Enjoy school and listen to your teachers. They are among the best in the state and they do want to help you. Good by

[SenLeahy]  Mary was a great art's teacher.

[milesofchardben]  Mr Stapleford says You betcha !!!!!!!!!!

[Patcatandjam]  Andy Where do stand on the scale

[mattrachmeg]  THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!!!!!!!!!

[jorgabrianava]  Thank You Very Much!!!!!!!!!!

[Patcatandjam]  Patcatandjam The political scale

[Patcatandjam]  Patcatandjam Thank you for your time we had lots of fun

[Jennifer]  Thank you everyone.

[jorgabrianava]  Thank You for your time and scheduling on this!!!!!!!