unfortunately, i have been thinking about this because today's testimony and the inquiries show that the industry as a whole is falling short of that and are. it appears to be following fall in fact, it seems to me that the is we candata pokers and, indeed, we will. full of optimism. we heard from ms. dixon about generated about dementia sufferers, to payday loan responders, products that seem tailor-made for businesses seeking to take advantage. i hate that. i personally am revolted by that. i have seen it in the treatment of coal miners in their safety. i have seen in every aspect of life in the state where i come from and elsewhere. living abroad. i don't like it.

i think it is our job as government to minimize that possibility and to bring out into some light was going on. if senator booker doesn't know that this is happening to him, he does now. and he doesn't like it. nailed mccaskill really something that could not be responded to. so we will continue on this track. i think it is serious and i think that it is the dark underside of american life in which people make a lot of money and cause a lot of people to thereforen more and have even lower self-esteem, which is not the america we want. this hearing is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013]

>> on the next "washington journal," the likelihood of places life afghanistan, syria, and iran becoming military hotspots in 2014. after that, richard norton smith talks about president obama second term in office and how other second term presidents fared in the past. we will also look at your comments. "washington journal" being live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c- span. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> next, freshman members discuss why there should be more women in congress. this should be 25 minutes. >> good morning. i am maggie haberman.

bym delighted to be joined anna palmer, our senior washington correspondent. group of women that is up of five the topic of our conversation, the peacemakers, making policy in a polarized government to this morning -- government. we have the democratic congressman from hawaii, the democratic senator from minnesota, the republican congresswoman from florida, and republican from missouri and wagner. . tweets.rget to use we will be tracking your questions. thank you for joining us for this conversation. >> we wanted to start the conversation with the senator. era so much talk about how women in the senate get along, bipartisan, they have dinners. how well do you know these women?

>> we are really good friends. when people talk about how, in the days of old, people used to work together, that is how we do. there are 20 women. we used to be 16, which was unfortunate because they referred to us as sweet 16. [laughter] we made united states history inn there was a traffic jam the united states senate women's bathroom. [laughter] light probably came to most recently with the shutdown where we had half of the women in the group of 14 that actually pushed the leadership on a deal, framework to resolve that. they were women. it was half republicans, including kelly ayotte and lisa myself and senator high camp. we worked together and it made a very big difference.

the trust that we have is genuine. we get together for dinner every other month. we had a minnesota public debt or. -- potluck dinner. that was senator mikulski and her husband actually fixed the salmon and froze it and sent it to her. we allow the meant to be hunter gatherers. [laughter] >> great. i would like to ask all three congresswoman -- have you seen this spirit that the senator is talking about? we haven't heard about it has leading to the house as much here and has there been an effort to translate it to the other chamber and what kind of partnerships have informed? -- have been formed? >> recently have in the freshman class. we just had a great dinner this week with the freshman members from the democrat side of the

aisle and the republicans. i won't tell you how many bottles of wine we went through. [laughter] and what we talked about was coming together and getting things done. women are born networkers. they are born communicators. we are multitaskers. we are solution oriented and i think there are lots of opportunities for us to come together and make things happen. that is why i came to congress. i am somewhat discouraged with the level of dysfunction, to be perfectly honest. we can be vehicles of change in moving the ball forward on andlf of our constituents the country. that is what we want to be a part of. i'm an old timer. i've been here longer than many of you have even been alive here in [laughter] -- alive here in [laughter] -- alive. [laughter] we used to have these large dinners.

if they are going on, maybe i am not invited anymore. month and they were really very good. dinners andnderful we got to discuss whatever legislation we were working on, trying to get more cosponsors for our bills because we all have power groups from our own party. but it is hard to get bipartisan support because we are always meeting as political parties. so we have more french up within our own party. so these get-togethers were really a great opportunity to move our legislation along. and they were very helpful. i need to check my schedule and make sure that i am on that dance card. >> you are the newest of everybody sitting up here. does anything surprise you? what has been unique about

our class that was just elected is the recognition in a very uncoordinated way that we were here to get things done and get results. in the best way to do that was to work together. herewe found after being for a few months and coming back from town hall meetings and district visits and kind of theanging stories was that message we were delivering back home are exactly the same. even in spite of the dysfunction, even in spite of there,stration that was the hope that we have for going forward is the fact that we have enough people of like minds who are interested in working together and building those relationships from the very beginning that have allowed us to do that. on the more fun side, i got to know a leader in the women's softball game. game.s our mc for the was cheering alongside with

a torn rotator cuff. but i was there. >> but we learned a lot about each other as people and our families and it was a great time to build camaraderie and establish a a lot of friendship that have blossomed into other things. >> and i know all of their r.b.i.'s. [laughter] a little more seriously, republicans have had issues in terms of having the same kind of numbers in congress. can you talk about the recruiting efforts? >> that is an absolute passion of mine. there are 19 republican women in congress. we have a conference of 232. it is a failure. and one absolutely must be addressed. i look out and i see susan susanri and i see comstock and i have worked for a long time with getting women

involved in politics and we are doing this now. i am working with the and icc. reaching out to women, talking to that seven -- that 37-year- old mother of two who is try to make it to the 15th or the 28th of the month. of the 40 to 50 key competitive races that we are looking at as a committee right now, over half of them has fielded a woman candidate. andre working with them doing real recruitment, not just mentoring of women that will enter the race. going out and finding that , --her, that military that military vet, that small business owner, the leader who wants to step up and be a part of the process. we are working very hard on this along with many of my colleagues

and members. it is a true passion of mine. i hope that we can't up those numbers in the next congress. >> a follow-up to that. last of talk since the election about how republicans don't reach women. can you go into a little more depth what you hear back and what kind of feedback there is? >> i get so aggravated. women, you all, we are not a coalition. we are 54% of the electorate. we rule during truth -- we rule. we decide the elections going forward. we decided a lot of things. we are the ones who are balancing family and personal budgets. we are the ones making most of the spending decisions. we are on the frontlines of health care. you talk to any medical provider, they will tell you. you are talking to a daughter or daughter-in-law. we are involved in energy policy. we know what it means here and it is time that we step up. we are all involved in this to

change public policy. we don't do that unless we are in power. others and there are politicians across this country that are making a decision on your behalf everything will day. the involved as a voter, as a participant, as an activist, but also as someone who will run for office. this,i could follow-up on just to get the sense especially given the partisan divide and the gridlock, and i've seen all of the complaints from your constituents -- what is the number one complaint that you hear from women constituents that they would like to see dealt with directly in congress? >> they are all interested in jobs and security in the next generation. i don't believe in women's issues. there are issues that women have a great interest in and are involved then at all levels.

and it has to do with jobs, the economy, safety, security, the future of our families and our nation. they want to make their lives a little bit easier. let's face it. there are women across america who are just trying to make those tennis shoes last another six months longer than they have to. we have to make their lives easier, better, and more functioning. >> i represent a district where the majority of our are hispanic. they classify themselves as hispanic americans on the census form. for them, even if they have the approved andtatus they don't have to worry about it, in my district, immigration reform remains a priority. so there is a great sense of frustration that the senate has already acted and the house has yet to act. hope that we will pass with speaker meters leadership piecemeal a bill to solve the

legality of the immigrant and get them on a path to citizenship. but we have to first secure the borders and that is what i hear a lot from our constituents and let's get immigration reform done. that is a priority. but first, let's make sure we won't repeat this mistake and this remedy 10 years from now. so that immigration and also jobs are tied together in my district in south florida. we had a big boom financially a few years ago. at an all-ction is time low. tourism is still the driving force in south florida. but they construction jobs will not be coming back and we are getting a lot of money coming in from venezuela and other places that are unstable. but we don't know how long that will last. there is a sense of insecurity about the economy in south florida. and i think those two issues are what is driving the voters. that we discuss

in congress is that we are glad to be the unifying force. i don't know about the 6% that doesn't approve of us because they are not in south florida. [laughter] [laughter] >> immigration reform is something that we also talk about a lot in this congress. you have been one of the key players in the house. alk about your role, as woman, as a peacemaker, try to get agreement and try to work across party lines, something we haven't seen a lot of. >> we do have bipartisan leaders who are leading the charge. we have paul ryan and we are working with folks likely smooth -- like luis gutierrez. so there is a lot of movement on the immigration situation. i think the press sometimes look at all of the negative parts that are not moving along, but there are a lot of conversations and sidelines moving the for so long.

so i am optimistic that we can get it done. i know we are hitting a lot of bumps along the road, but it will be all right. i am optimistic about that. >> just a follow-up on what she said. is there an example in negotiations where you can say you handled it differently than your colleagues as. your colleagues, your perspective as a woman. statesme to the united when i was 8. i am a refugee myself. i have dealt with refugees and immigrants families and see how much it impacts women because, so often, many times, the male is not there. either he is deported or the debt is not present and immigration is really a woman issue. it is a family centered issue. and i think we need to focus it more that way and look at it more about how it impacts the mystic violence also because, if you are an immigrant it -- an

immigrant that does not have papers, it is more likely that person will not tell the police that you are being abused in some way. women are greatly impacted by the lack of immigration reform. not that they are women issues. i agree that there are no women issues. but this issue of immigration directly impacts women and is usually the mom and the kids. >> if we could go back to the senator and a congress woman about what you're hearing in your district. >> a lot of what the countless women have been saying, first of all, the economy is what they care about the most and maybe a little different way in my state. the and implement is now down to 4.8%. -- the a lot of thriving

unemployment is now down to 4.8%. we have a lot of thriving businesses and we have an educated workforce and we focus a lot on exports. the issues for a lot of our constituents about how much things cost, the concern about the cost of gas being down a little bit, the concern of the cost of college, concern about the cost of health care -- those are the issues they are really focused on right now. the second thing he mentioned about unity on wanting congress to work better together. they are very angry about this big -- about this gridlock. they know that we are out of the downturn and things will stabilize and there are things that we should be doing, like immigration reform. i thank you for that. i am on the judiciary committee and we have seen the provisions of the business side of that can we are proud of that immigration don't want to get it done.

on the senate side, there are some major things we have gone done there. and maybe part of it is that nearly half of our leaders, the chairman in the senate, are women. but we have moved ahead i a lot of bills and i think that the shutdown really brought everything to life for people in the country that this is ridiculous. they are actually holding us back instead of allowing us to move forward as a country. that is what i hear the most from the people in the state. what i love about the women up here when i think about her military background and the work we are doing on immigration reform and the work that ann has done internationally as an ambassador, and when they come in, you just have to work with them together and you need to look at the backgrounds of the women in congress. a lot of them have come from those kinds of results-oriented fields. i was a prosecutor. that was my job.

i couldn't ask any victim with their political affiliation was. i just had to go and get the thing done. i think that has helped us were together and get these things done. but we are ready to move on immigration reform. itty murray is working on with congressman ryan. i hope we will see a new day in the next few months. , from hawaii to florida and everywhere in people, the issues of are worried about are the same, whether it is the economy or jobs or making sure that we are providing good education to our kids and making sure that we have a strong and sustainable future. but the underlying common thread throughout all of that, from women, from constituents as a is not understanding why we are not getting things done. finding it somewhat inconceivable, when there is so much commonality between the issues that we are hearing from at home and there is so much commonality in the things that we would like to tackle collectively regardless of party, why are we able to actually sit down and work out

the differences? what she said is true. there is a lot of great work that is happening that doesn't make the headlines. there are a lot of small groups of members meeting, talking about democrats and republicans, as those classified moderates, but people who represent a broad spectrum of views on policies and politics and how to find solutions and saying how do we figure out this budget deficit issue? how do we deal with the debt ceiling? and figuring out. thecoming gros there. -- andf the work figuring out the common ground that is there. is creating the pressure from within to bring these initiatives to the floor and get some movement. >> what has been the biggest surprise for you in terms of being the rank-and-file. you have meetings in hawaii and you, to the belt way. -- and you come to the beltway.

>> i had the opportunity to work with senator caucus here. i worked with him between my two deployments to the middle east and our two senators from horry were great leaders in many ways -- from hawaii were great leaders in many ways. they set examples and taught me a lot about building relationships, ones that are based on respect and would withstand the winds blowing one way or the other. he and senator stevens from alaska were great examples of two best friends. they call each other brother. i laughed when they give their talking about an issue on the house floor. after they were done, they tried to fist bump each other. [laughter] they ended up getting it on the second or third try. but regardless of what happens, they were able to disagree and still remain friends. i was surprised when i first came here, there were a few

people and i was reaching out to some of my republican friends and i was criticized. you're not supposed to talk to them. what are you doing? are you kidding me? this is what we need the most urine >> -- the most. i think most of us believe that though more women we have a leadership the better off we are. debbie stepanov has gotten closer to reaching an agreement on the farm bill with barbara vendor --king with with senator better to get the transportation bill done. and then leading the postal reform. we have worked very hard to develop leaders in the senate. so i don't know exactly the timing.

there is kind of a lineup in the senate. [laughter] but i think there is women right now in very important leadership roles, that is inclined barbara mikulski who is our de facto leader of the women in the senate and one of my best moments is when she gathered the women of the senate together before a vote and she stood up lifted herself on the couch and i felt like i was back in the 1970s. she said, get out there, square your shoulders, and get ready for the revolution [laughter] there is a lot of experience in the women of the senate that passed on and we really stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. >> we want to close with a question for all of your. -- all of you. a lot of this series has been about being women oriented. can you give our audience tangible or a piece of advice to

peacemakers either in the corporate world worm or in the classroom or to take a message of their own from this event today. >> one of the things i have come across is that i have talked to other women who are thinking about getting involved in one way or another, either in elected office or another positions and i am often met with the response that i don't know if i'm qualified. as each of us looks into our lives, there is so much uniquely qualifying about experiences that we have gone through, ways that we may not have recognized where we actually have had experience leading a group of people or leading an effort. behink our voices need to heard more and recognizing and valuing the experience uniquely that we bring to the table, whatever that is, is important for us to recognize and be able to convey to others. >> my advice is really along those lines.

sort of leaned in for women who want to go to politics. the negativity is part of the game right now and you will have intense debates and you will be commercials and tv's. that will happen. but if you don't get involved, you won't be able to change it. one of the best ways to change it is if people of opposite hearties that may stand in the opposite boxing ring on some things that they can say that courage is no longer doing that. courage is standing next to someone that you don't normally agree with for the betterment of our country and for people to be able to go together on tv to change things. not everything is negative. the only way you will change the nuances of it is by doing it yourself. >> for me, balance. in my 30 years of elected office, i am still try to find that balance between my professional life, my family life, and finding some me time

as well. i'm am still juggling. we still feel like -- whether you are a teller at a bank or a barista or a member of congress or a member of the senate -- we still have our perfection allies. we have our personal lives. we never get it right. the key juggling and you will find that balance that fits you and it may not be the textbook definition of balance, but if it works for you and it works for your family, then that is a great thing and never forget that family is the number one, above everything else, that you've got going on. your relationship with god and your family. >> taking the balance analogy, i -- thatl you that women what women juggle isn't a, a bowling ball and a chainsaw and then the -- that's what women , a bowling ball

and a chainsaw and then the cell phone rings. [laughter] aether you are a send -- macwrite or libertarian -- say yes. whether you are a democrat or libertarian or republican, say yes. step out of your comfort zone. we need you. we need your voice. we need your leadership. we need your common sense. women, as i said, multitaskers, communicators, they bring people together. we listened. we are the ones who ask for directions when we are lost, right? [laughter] all womend encourage to get involved in so many ways. you are involved in your communities and your careers. it all.have not all at once. i have three great kids. i have drug them across the country. i have drug them across the world. and here to washington, d.c. and people say to me you are a

great role modern -- role model to your daughter. and i say that i am a that her role model to my sons. they see strong women who are willing to stand up and say, ok, i will put the flak jacket on. i will take it because i'm going to do what's right for them, for their future, for my constituents. it is just a joy. the kind of relationship building that we are able to do toa team is important walking across that i'll, getting things done. i have seen it in financial services committee and the many different ways. i will leave you all with just say yes. to ourk you so much panelists for such an engaging conversation. [applause] >> c-span created by our cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public service by your cable provider.