Senator Angus King spoke to students in various history
and world politics classes at Windham High School on Wednesday via Skype from
Washington D.C. The hundred students in attendance listed respectfully as
Senator King spoke about his job in the Senate and then answered questions from
selected students.
King told the students that his primary role was that of
advocacy. He spends three or four days a week in Maine and the rest of the time
in Washington D.C. working on his many committees like the Armed Services
Committee or the Intelligence Committee to name a few. He said participating in
hearings is his favorite part of the job.
“I enjoy the chance to ask questions,” he told the
students. He has 10 to 12 hour days, but feels that the issues he deals with
are all important and challenging.
“I’m delighted to have a chance to chat,” he told them.
The first question asked was about health insurance. In
each of his answers he spoke about the laws, the existing programs and what
might happen with the new administration. “Not having health insurance is bad
for your health,” he said. People will put off going to the doctors, having
tests or getting treatment without insurance.
He answered a question about our country’s debt. “Right
now we are borrowing money to run the government already,” he said. Raising
taxes or cutting taxes will come back on to the families. “It’s just going to
make your life difficult 10 years down the road.”
Throughout the question and answer session, King spoke to
the class as adults. It was obvious they already understood many of the issues.
“The depth of questions and level at which they’re paying
attention has increased,” said King’s regional representative Travis Kennedy. “I’m
very impressed.”
King has been doing these talks to schools since he first
took office as a senator. It was the first time that students at Windham High
School were able to use technology to have a 1 on 1 conversation, remotely,
with their senator.
King has always been a supporter of technology,
introducing laptops at the middle school level for each student while he was
governor. Through technology, King is able to reach out to hundreds of students
in between meetings and hearings on Capitol Hill.
Other questions asked were about marijuana legalization,
of which, King hopes that Maine will take lessons learned in Colorado and
California to make it a smooth transition; Illegal immigration, where 97.5 percent
of US citizens are descended from immigrants. He also stated that Maine needed
people to come here to keep the economy going. We can’t build a wall around
Maine and expect things to keep going, he said. He also noted that Americans
won seven Nobel Prizes and six of the recipients were recent immigrants; One
student asked about potential military conflicts. With China and Russia
building up their militaries, King worries about an accident escalating into a
war; How to prepare for a terrorist attack. There is a fine line between
protecting our freedom, not turning into a police state, he told them; Gun
control can be accomplished by using common sense; Minimum wage is okay as long
as it is phased in and small business owners are watched out for; Drug testing
for Welfare recipients is a hard one for King to answer, he said. “I’d like to
hear arguments on both sides.”
Affirmative action and securing our borders were
the final two questions.
Social studies teacher Jeffrey Neal arranged the event.
He has taken classes on field trips to see senators speak, but has never used
technology to create a “FDR fireside chat” atmosphere, he said. The questions
were determined by the students, he added.
Students in the various classes will have the opportunity
to discuss their experience with their fellow students and teachers.
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