captured the screams. that captured her last words. which i really didn't know what they were until i went through the process of translating the tape for the officers. and her last words were, uncle, please don't kill me. in many ways, i think she changed my entire life. >> what does that tell you about the criminal justice system that he only served six years? >> it was very disappointing. disappointing that his family was well off. and they were able, you know, to hire an attorney who was able to convince a jury that by drinking one beer, he was intoxicated and therefore he did not know what he was doing. and it was a crime of passion. >> what was the girl's name? and have you talked to her family over the years? >> i have not.

i have not. >> that was really the starting point for your political career? >> that was my starting point. i often say i hate politics. it's not really, you know, what i want to do. but it's the work that i have to do to do what i love to do, and that's serve my community. public service has been my life. >> you were born in guatemala. >> yes. >> you came to the u.s. when? >> i came to the u.s. in 1970. it was -- i was sent here by my parents to live with my father's oldest brother who lived in whittier, california. and his youngest brother was here but was serving in the u.s. navy at the time. my mother was very, very ill. it was guatemala was a war torn country at that time. lots of violence. and my father just felt that

they couldn't take care of me. because they were so busy with my mother's illness that it was better for me. to come to the u.s. i was told i was coming on vacation. so, in many ways, i think, you know, i owe this country a great deal. i've had a wonderful life here. >> did you speak any english? >> i did not. back then, we did not have the programs. you know, i was thrown in one night, went to school in a classroom. with other kids and i learned english fairly quickly because as a child, i mean, you have -- you don't have work, you don't have a lot of things on your mind other than, i want to be able to play with other kids and be able to communicate with them. >> what do you remember about your mom? she has since passed away, correct? >> i don't remember a great deal about my mom. and i think that's unfortunate. >> and your dad?

>> my dad is living very close to where i live. he's remarried. he came to the u.s. about five years later. i moved back in with him within about eight years. i ended up back with him in my teenage years, which are difficult, you know, for a girl not having her mom. or for any child. you know, having their same-sex parent. >> brothers, sisters, cousins? >> i have two oldest sisters. they -- we're all 7 years apart. so i was the baby. and they still treat me like that. >> why? >> i think they've always tried to protect me. they've always felt since i was the youngest, you know, they needed, you know, to protect me. >> your first elective office was in city hall, correct? >> yes. i ran for city council in the year 2000. i was a member of -- i still am,

actually, a member. and at that time, president mcintyre challenged the membership to run for elected office. he said, i don't care what you run for. county commissioner, whatever it is. put your name on the ballot and run. america needs their workers to have a voice at the table. america needs their workers to be at the negotiating table. and i took that to heart. and after being through what i went through, in the city of los angeles, i felt if they can do it, why can't i? i love my community. i want to help my community. and i have a lot to offer. and i won by 75 votes. broke my ankle five weeks before the election. and rented a wheelchair and kept on going. i defeated an incumbent that had been in office for 11 years.

he had switched parties because the area that, you know, we represented was very conservative. republican. i defeated him with his own constituency. >> how did you break your ankle? >> walking in a broken sidewalk. and i continued to walk four blocks. i had no idea it was broken. when i got home, luckily my sister was there and she's a nurse. as soon as i took off my tennis shoe, my foot just blew up and said -- she said, we're going to the hospital. that foot is broken, and she was right. >> when you ran 15 years ago, would you ever have imagined today you would be in the house of representatives? >> absolutely not. absolutely not. the issues, you know, back then, people said, she's a union member, she only cares about certain things. there was an issue with the l.a.

county fair that i had taken on. they were proposing an expansion project. and they had done an eir. and there were 67 issues that had been identified that needed for us to negotiate. and i was involved in all of that. gaining the respect of my community and the trust in my community, and it was really important, but i never thought i would ever make it this far. >> let me ask you about union membership. as you know, it's on the decline across the country. why is that? and from your past experiences, is there a way you could change that curve? >> i think so. i think in many ways labor has gotten away from doing what we used to do really good before. and that's our outreach effort. i think we need to do more of that, engaging the membership at their level.

on things that are important to them. like, child care. prior to me being elected to the city council, i was very involved in the state and national lobbying efforts. because of child care. i worked the graveyard shift. because i couldn't afford to hire a babysitter. those are the things that many of my colleagues had to do. many went to the local library. that was child care for them. single moms. i'm grateful i'm not a single mom. but still, two-income family raising three sons was very, very hard. in a neighborhood like pomona. i had to be there for my kids to make sure they were on the right path. >> you have three boys, what are their names and ages? >> i have robert is 29 years

old. my son christopher, a veteran of the air force is 25. and my baby matthew is 22. >> what do they think of their mom being in congress? >> they think it's an incredible challenge for them. we have a very competitive household. and, you know, their biggest complaint is how are we going to be able to compete with mom? you know. what are we -- what do i have to do to be, you know, better than congress? and i think they're now realizing that is not the title, you know, that makes me who i am. it's, you know, my involvement in my community. >> is there a budding politician in your family? >> maybe. you know, my oldest son robert ran for local office. unfortunately, he didn't win,

but he has stayed very well connected and continues to get involved in the community issues. >> how did you and your husband meet? >> we met at a baptism. it just, you know, some friends were having a baptism party, a barbecue, a backyard barbecue and that's how we met. i always said, you know, i didn't really like him, but i fell in love with him over the phone. he was my best friend, and eventually, we started dating. and we've been married this year, we'll celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary. >> what about your routine when you're here in washington and obviously you have to fly cross country to get back or the your district. how often do you get home, what's your schedule like? >> i go home every week. i have to. because otherwise i wouldn't see my family. my husband thinks that his mission in life is to keep me grounded.

if, you know, he was -- if he was to come to d.c., he thinks it would be harder for me to get there. the travel is hard because, unfortunately, there are no direct flights from ontario airport that is ten minutes away from my home. so in order for me to enjoy sunday afternoons with, you know, my family, i have to fly out of l.a.x., which means i have to leave at 5:30 a.m. for an 8:20 flight. but it's a direct flight. going home is a little bit harder. i either go through texas or phoenix to get to ontario airport. >> so when you're on that plane, how do you maximize your time? or do you sleep? >> i try to sleep. because when i get home, you know, i have to hear about everything that's happened while i've been gone. not only at home, but in the community. and uh then i try to catch up on

reading, too. >> let me ask you about the issue of immigration. you're an example of the immigration system in this country, the debate that is front and center. what recommendations would you givecenter. what recommendations would you give democrats and more importantly republicans as this debate continues? >> i think more so to my republican colleagues, i'm a perfect example of immigration gone right. when my family immigrated to the u.s. it was a lot easier. there was a process that didn't take 30 years. you can petition for family members. and we did all that. i think it was a good process. it allowed me to fully participate in this country, not just as a tax payer but as a voter and as a community activist and eventually run for office. and i think that that is exactly the american dream that we want

every person that comes to this country to be able to reach. their full potential to participate in making this great country what it is. >> where in guatemala is your family from and have you been back there? >> i have. i am from a coastal state. i have been back twice. once as mayor and three years ago i went as a state assembly member. i was invited by the government the second time around. it's very difficult for me to travel to guatemala. i'm very popular. i had no idea they had been following my political life. in central american countries, and this is an issue we've been trying to address, the governments are very, very corrupt. and the people saw me as this is an example of someone who, you know, works full time, works the

graveyard shift, and still serves her community. and i think that that's what they want to see out of their governments. >> in fact, aren't you the highest ranking guatemalan in our government today? >> i am. and that is a very difficult position to be in. not only do i have my district to represent, but we get calls from all over the u.s. it's quite an honor that the people from the 35th congressional district from given me. >> back in november, you and other freshman representatives came to washington as representatives elect and went through the orientation process. you told the l.a. times it's like drinking water from a fire hose. what was it like? >> yes. remember, we had just won an election. so everyone was tired. i think we got a week off.

but i wasn't really off because i was a state senator. and i had to shut down my senate office within 30 days of that election -- or 25 days within that election. when i came here it was so much information that was given to us. in many ways i think it's the way that congress can say we gave you that information and you signed that you acknowledged and received it. now you're on your own. >> there's a picture behind you, and i think there's a story behind that photograph with the other freshman representatives. so explain. >> yes. our office lottery. it was a lot of fun actually. we got to choose numbers. and it was done by alphabetical order. so torres, you know, i was one of the last members to choose a number. but i think i pulled in the mid-30s, or 37.

that&that was the face that i was making is is i didn't think i would have a great chance to get an office -- a nice office. >> and you also learned about d.c. weather, right? >> i was not prepared. still i'm not prepared. last week the congresswoman napolitano offered me a pair of boots. she had you need to have boots that are snow boots. and those california boots don't work here. >> you moved up from city hall to the state assembly, to the state senate, to congress. what's next? >> this is where i'm going to be for a while, i think. there is a lot of work to do here. there is a lot of relationships to mend. there is a constituency that feels that, you know, government

isn't working for them. and they don't see themselves here. and i think it's a great opportunity for me to say, look, i came from four floors underground working the graveyard shift, the mom next door. the soccer mom next door, i should say. and here i am. if i can do it, you can do it too. but more importantly, we need your involvement. it's too easy to forget where you come from when you come to d.c. >> and finally, do you have heroes, role models, people who have influenced you along the way. >> i have had i think a lot of people that have helped in one way or another either through, you know, constructive criticism or holding my hand during that

mayoral election. it was during a difficult period of my life. i had lost my home to a fire. and here's congresswoman napolitano sitting in a living room of a temporary house that we managed to representative for a short period of time. and she squeezed my hand. we won by a landslide that election. i have yahila to think about. >> talk a moment about the house fire. >> i was in the middle of running for mayor. and it was -- i had taken a leave of absence from my job as a 911 dispatcher. i was helping my union on two ballot initiatives. i had just left my home.

i was on the phone unfortunately with a constituent because we were planning a demonstration the next day for these rooming houses of sex offenders that were being september to my hometown. so my husband's phone rings. he's driving. he puts it on speaker phone. it's the kids. the house is on fire. and, you know, i'm thinking -- i live on a hillside. i'm thinking it's the hill that's on fire. you never think a that this is something that could happen to you. we drove home. we were 10 minutes away. we had to run the last four blocks because there were so many emergency vehicles. it was devastating. i went from driving a mercedes to driving a kia. but we managed to survive all of that. >> what was the cause? >> the cause was electrical.

we had moved into a home that was built in the '20s. and the electrical had not been upgraded. so here we are a family with three computers, a tv in every room. some of the bedrooms had two tvs because you have to watch football not just on one channel but two different channels. it was quite a devastating experience. i lived at five different places in 14 months. homelessness. i think that's why i'm so passionate about homelessness. i think it is america's black eye. you never know. it could happen to you. it happened to me. had it not been for a credit card with zero balance, i would have been living in my car. we had no place to go. but because of that credit card,

i was able to check into a hotel. and the hotel was my home for the first three weeks. eventually i worked with my understand company and we found a temporary house to rent. i can't tell you how frustrating and how difficult it is for a family with young boys, a dog and a cat to find a place to live. even though i was a council member, even though i was on the ballot to be mayor, somehow it's very difficult. people don't want to rent to folks that come with that baggage. i didn't see it as baggage. my kids and my pets are an influence of me that helps drive my politics. eventually we found a temporary

place. but then we had to move again to a hotel when they found a more stable tenant. so we lived between hotels and this temporary house for 14 months. >> representative torres, thank you for your time. thank you for sharing your story with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. american history tv covered a symposium on the modern first lady in july. speakers examined the style and approaches of first ladies from florence hard to go michelle obama. this was the theme of the annual warren g. harding symposium at the ohio state university at marion. it's about four hours. >> and now to begin our first session entitled "paving the way," will you please join me in welcoming the moderator for this session, director of education in specialev