so that we can do the work that we were elected to do. the members will make the decision. >> it is a good deal for you. do you want kevin mccarthy at your side? >> i can work with whoever is selected. a lot of people are saying that immigration reform is dead because you will not move out of what happened to mr. cantor. don't believe the first premise of your question. immigration reform has not changed. the he did it again with the release . i reminded him yesterday that every time he does this it makes

it harder to gain the trust of our members to do the big wings that need to be done. like are you worried about immigration? >> the president is going to have to demonstrate that he can be trusted. >> you said that people that think the swap is good 90. they are dead wrong. negotiating with a terrorist is something we cannot tolerate. we put americans at risk as a result. tryingtif voters were washington

[inaudible] >> they are all different. i ensure people are going to handle it. >> surely you must have a take away. if eric cantor can be granted that he is reporting amnesty, how can your party ever reports on this? >> we do not know that that is or was the issue. >> for over 35 years c-span brings this directly to you putting you in the room that's -- room. all as a public service for private industry. watch us and like us on facebook. joining as is xavier becerra,

chair of the house democratic congress. thank you for being with us. the national is journal. being withoth for us. i want to begin on something that you set this past week about immigration following eric cantor. he said the question is not if we get it done but when. my question is when will it be done? >> things and not change since week's election where he lost. it has to do with that which the senate did. the answer to win is you could do it this coming week. we get it this month. this year. we are prepared to do it. it is that republicans have to .top blocking the boat

there are enough republicans to to dolmost every democrat it. >> fix it how? >> this has been answered for quite some time. there are three or four major elements to make sure we are not doing this exercise of reform in another 10 or 15 years. that is simply this. you make sure you have the start just security. you use a lot more technology than we have in the back. you continue to keep a strong border control. then more people working on border enforcement than we have in all of the other federal criminal agencies combined. dea, you name it.

up.oes not add we have to be smart on the border. you have to make sure only those that are entitled to work get a job. he cannot have this for decades where undocumented work americans. are willing to violate the law. in make sure you fix the broken legal immigration system. it has some people waiting 15 or 20 years before they can get their visa the right year which many of us say i'm not going to wait that long. you get rid of the bad logs. he deal with a major impediment. isally, the fourth element dealing with the fact that you have a 11 million people here. many of them work very hard or a long time. kids goingm have onto major colleges because they have done so well. deal with that.

ghal with it in a touch wy. ay.\ they got to prove they can do it the right way. make sure they do not become public charges. we have known it. we need to have house republicans give us a chance to vote on its. m alberta -- republican congress has been thrown into chaos following the unexpected defeat of eric cantor. biggest news is has decidedabrador to challenge kevin mccarthy in the on test to replace him as majority leader. you have some relationship with him having worked within in this

immigration route. tell us about the relationship and i you handicapped the right? >> thank you for the shout out of father's day. families whonk the make it possible for us to be decent ones. they are smart, capable, committed. i would never underestimate what he would do. i know kevin mccarthy is going to work is very hard. be interesting to see how this plays out. i cannot make any predictions. i will tell you this. raul is smart. he is someone that will work hard for the things he stands for. decided is that he has

to throw this in the ring, he decided that he has something to say. the innings is you know what you're getting. more conservative than i would like. it is easy to come to terms as one as long as you know where they stand. be interesting to see. you are saying the republican party sign up. throughrking its way this internal civil war. it is not the same about the tail wagging the dog. i think the tea party is becoming the dog. >> he did not want to make a rejection. you have not had great relationships. members wouldwo

you prefer to work with? who would make your job easier? i believe the democratic leadership could work with either one. it is a matter of deciding where you want to go. it is about finding solutions. boat wheren in this it has been in a shutdown mode. the house leadership has been holding three day work weeks are for the last several months and knowingre a matter of who the stakeholder will be. the americank people care what our politics are. hi. thank you so much for doing this . to follow-up on all of this,

immigration reform did not look like it was happening for us. they have said they are in favor of different parts of this. what would you ask him to do? >> he told them that he should look at the law. the difficulty for the president as he is working with a broken system. there are a set of laws that are not working right. you're trying to make the most out of a system that is broken. that is. when you are limited in what you can do with all slept are not worth inc. because you have the discretion and how to implement you have to hope that congress will act sooner than

later. in the case of immigration laws, they are a couple of anxiety are very quick. we have limited resources. we should be doing everything we can to go after those who are trying to sell our people drug, put humans into trafficking, those who are trying to commit crimes and certainly go after this country to do us harm. that is going to take a lot of effort. we should focus on going after criminals i want to do us harm. what we should be doing is telling employers. they recognize without providing the magnet, a lot of the slope would not do so. if there is the job at the end of the day, the folks will not make it. we can do a number of wings through the president's executive authority to make these broken laws work better. the reality is congress has to

act. congress, i amin nursing of it this close to getting done. we're supposed to do something very similar to the senate. we cannot only do it for the security of our country but our economy. reform like this reduces our deficit by over $900 billion over the next 20 years and increases economic output. >> what was the last time you talked to the president one-on-one? >> one-on-one has been a little while. group, not that long. maybe a month or so. >> what about joe biden? do you speak to the vice president? >> we do. anut a month ago i had opportunity to get the vice president's house. we have an opportunity to talk on this and other matters quite a bit.

they want to get this done. they want to give congress a chance to succeed. i believe they are determined to make sure that we do not let the broken system to our american people from finding jobs and keep families from trying to stay together. it is very painful. grace you have been in congress for 20 years. when you compare this president to bill clinton, is barack obama engaged with you as a member of the house as his predecessor? >> they do it a little differently. president obama has a style. haddent bush and clinton their style as well. obama, what he does as he tries to give us a chance to move. when house republicans told the president what if we get a bill through the house before you do any more executive action, the

president said i will let you try to do that but i will continue to work and preparation in the event the went to get republicans in the house you go into shutdown mode. in the case of president obama, he really think through things. when he is ready to act he will consult. aesident clinton came around little but more often than president obama to meet with members of congress. at the same time, having seen the president and clinton did not know you knew where they're going to go. president bush was a little more difficult to calculate. he sort of shot from the hip quite a bit. have a style or a preference is better for you? >> i have learned over the years be int is always best to communication as often as you can. i understand the president has a lot of pressure. scheduleget to see his every day. the more you are in contact, the better off you are.

it helps to get things done when you have constant communication. rather than talk about how you do it, the best thing is to get other and have that communication. >> we are from the president on friday regarding the deteriorating security situation in iraq. the president made it clear that we would not be sending u.s. troops back into the country. what are you hearing from members of your caucus and from your own constituents back home? >> i voted against going to war in iraq for essentially these reasons. iraqis at some point have to stand up for themselves. they are responsible for iraq. nation, an truly a iraqi soldier who is a sunni tube be prepared to defend a

iraqi soldier who was a shia and a shia should be willing to defend an iraqi civilian who is sunni. right now none of that is occurring. iraqeality is we see listening into civil war. did american fight someone else's civil war for them? i do not think so. the president saying before we , before the iraqi government tries to deal with not just his own military but local problems, absolutely not. the prime minister has to understand that he has to reach withinh those elements his country for those that feel they can walk out. would be a grave mistake to put boots on the to fight send soldiers

someone else's fight. we have spent too many soldiers and taxpayer dollars helping the up theget ready to stand iraqis. he says when they stand up, america will stand down. we have given them everything we needed to stand up. they should not complain when they do not get it the way they wanted. going to be the enforcer for the entire world. i just want to be curious. what do your constituents think? or ringing off the hook. are you thinking about people who are sharing your sentiments. >> most americans would tell us we want to make sure that

people are free and have opportunities. they have got to stand up for themselves. what i hear over and over again is that they want us to focus on getting america act where it should be. getting america back to work and strong. the stronger we are, the more capable we are brought. americans have it right. do not neglect of the world. we never do. make sure that we are investing ourselves so in the event our interests are being threatened, we are being prepared. we're not going to abandon people who are seeking democracy . we just had to know that they truly want to fight for democracy in peace and freedom on their own and they are willing to sacrifice their own before we sacrifice american life for them. selectbenghazi special

committee, what do you think it's going to be happening with that? we're not heard anything in a few weeks. specially given what is happening with sergeant bowe bergdahl. how will this be playing out when it comes to politics? >> i wish i could tell you what is going to happen. seven benghazi investigations. the only thing i see going on with benghazi was that they are --ng this issue of the data and the death of four americans to raise campaign cash dollars. that is not what we're supposed to be about. we have held over seven investigations. more than 30,000 pages of documents collect the.

witnesses were taken. i cannot tell you all have with this benghazi investigation. we have been there. we had done that. my sense is that of the men raising campaign cash, we are not going to learn anything new. they are indicating that the president might have made a mistake great -- mistake. mistake?a there would be repercussions and none took place? >> some of these isys combatants are in syria and they are rebels. as we saw was some of the film , they are driving an

american raid truck. you have to be very careful. been providingas ,his to some of the rebels trying to move toward democratic rule. it depends on who is on the ground doing what. when you get into this situation where it is essentially a civil war, it is tough to know who is the good guy and you is the fact i. the test should be this for any politician who said we should be doing more. your sonilling to lose or daughter because you think we should be in that civil war? if you're not willing to volunteer your own family, you should not be so quick to

volunteer someone else's son or daughter. >> i am curious. we have heard a lot of grumbling from some members of the house democratic caucus about a lack of the in three of the top leaders. they are showing no signs of going anywhere. your the fourth ranking member of the democratic team. how do you respond? how do you tell your younger colleagues who are becoming frustrated. around forne new is i his 22nd caucus but younger than the leaders around you, this is a process. anytime someone does not like you in leadership, we have

groups that allow us to take a vote at any time. readers that you mentioned have strong support within the democratic caucus. they are there because they are strongly supportive. they have done some great. iting server 21 plus years, you do not get the leadership without having the ability to command respect from your colleagues. are we going to learn that with the republican leader and then of mr. mccarthy moves up? you have to demand the respect of your colleagues and american people. i do not share the views that things are not moving fast enough. tomorrow the members could ask for a boat to replace anyone of us who are on leadership. the test for any leader is whether or not you are moving things forward and doing what those among you who are with you believe is the right thing to do. whether it is nancy pelosi or chairman, wearly

are on a lease. a very short leash. time, they can say we want to vote. the american people cannot see everything that goes on with leadership. it is not easy. a lot of effort. the reason you have leaders is because they have the vote of the majority. discussion is that this has changed just agree. blood inds to be fresh the uppermost echelons to reflect those changes in the american electorate at large. do you not feel that is the case ? like you always want to invigorate and make sure you are ahead of the curve. i believe democrats are.

economy first.ur the fact that we are fighting to raise the minimum wage to make sure they are in the same amount of men for the same work, the fact they would never let go the fight that americans should be able to get that emergency unemployment insurance. we're trying to get a transportation bill done was used to be a bipartisan effort. it shut down politics in the house. it is the route the country. republicans cannot get there voters to vote on a transportation bill. we all paid for this one we went to the gas station.

we will always find an opportunity to bring in new blood into bring in new ideas. if we want different ideas, i believe you're going to find most of our democrats in the are great. there are always new ideas. >> will nancy pelosi run for leader for the next congress? i can tell you that nancy pelosi has the overwhelming support of democrats in the house of representatives. sureakes care of making members have opportunities to be in the majority.

no one i have ever seen has worked harder. nancy had learned the positions she has. the democratic caucus we have been following very closely the race for ranking member replace henry waxman who is retiring from your home state. hoosier preference for that spot? -- hoosier preference for that spot? >> i have taken a neutral position. force on the energy and commerce committee. i've known her for a long time. we both got congress the same year. we won the elections in 1992. she has worked hard. no one is more about the internet and what it means to have robust laws that protect all the high-tech in the biotech and the new technology that is

leaving. he came a little bit before i did. helping the issues for the american public. his tireless and making sure that they are ready to debate. member, we aree winners either way. i wish them both well. if i can ask, christina alluded earlier to the prisoner exchange involving bowe bergdahl. when did you first learn the details about the search? >> through the information that was being provided mostly through our offices. the briefingsough that we got. most of the details learn through the classified briefings. >> earlier you're discussing the

communication with the white house. were you concerned the white house did not brief members of congress on this exchange before took place? >> members of congress were reached. the potential for action in regard to sergeant bergdahl and china to secure his release, the administration has been in communication. i have no criticism of the white house. i would say that when they were about to give the news of having secured sergeant bergdahl, that could have been more communication with the top leaders to give them the heads up. in terms of announcing the , ats, congress had a sense least those in charge had information. they knew that the , one thing they

probably did not know was the exact time. to somew the how degree. they knew the what. are sayingicians who we were blindsided, not sure. we understood the administration was working really hard for several years to secure the release of american soldiers. >> she says she was blindsided by this. it is not a partisan issue. what can the white house due to better communicate? they might have been able to communicate with some of the