host: for the first time on washington journal we welcome con -- claudia tenney, a republican from new york's way second district. your district is one of the tossup districts that will be on the front lines in the 2018 elections, how do you feel as a freshman member with that status? do you feel like you are walking around with a target on your back as you get to know your way around capitol hill? >> i'm used to that. i have always been an underdog. 2016i faced a three-way primary and three-way election where my opponents had about $15 million and i had 3 million. i want general election by seven points.

my general election by seven points. i stand for what i stand for, i tell the truth, i'm trying to make government better. my three terms in the new york state assembly i was never endorsed by my local republican committee, and i was still able to defeat the endorsed a candidate -- endorsed candidate. i feel like i'm independent, an underdog, and i have been fighting corruption in new york state. i feel i can match up perfectly with my opponent, who is the opposite of me in many ways. you're not a career politician? have you pledged a term limit? i am on term limit legislation, think it is important we have term limits because at this point people say the constitution does not say it, you get a term limit every two years, you face the voters.

i think there is an advantage to an incumbent, and it seems so many people stay forever. years -- at than 10 that point what good are you doing? i love the jeffersonian idea of people coming out of the , getting into politics to help the country out. 50's, i got the politics late in life. i was an attorney, i ran my family business, i'm still a shareholder of my business and is a member of congress we can no longer hold any fiduciary position in a company. but i know what it is like to be a small business owner in a struggling economy. i think it is a real asset when you have to judge bills, legislation, and make decisions about what is best for our community. i actually live across the

street from the house i grew up in. i'm committed to my community, i want to make it a better place. my community was once the beginning of the industrial revolution, a lot of companies were founded there, remington arms, paul revere started his company in our region. part of year, one of our great numbers of american history. that company is still there today. ibm was founded in binghamton, new york, also in my district. at one point they were thriving, they're now down to 200 jobs. we are looking at a comeback in new york, but it has been a battle with our state government and trying to bring some relief toward taxpayers. we have had the largest emmigration than any other state. in the past six years. host: would you want president trump to come in campaign with you in your district? guest: yes, i think he is

provided a strength. for example the 2012 election point, hey won by one won but -- president trump one by 16 in my district. it is considered in our sixa --n 6.n r this district actually has 30,000 more republicans so it is not comparable to the pennsylvania race. i think trump ran a number of policies that people care about people -- care about. the huge cronyism rate, meaning we are taking a taxpayer money and giving it to businesses, some of the lowest rates of job production than any other state in the country are our concerns and we are looking for something different.

the trade issue is really appealing to a lot of people in our area. we are losing so many of our manufacturing jobs, ionamin -- the manufacturing business was founded in 1946 in my district, inis tough to do business new york as a small business. we want to bring small businesses back and give them a chance to thrive. you mentioned taxpayer money and spending, there is a spending bill that is excited to be on the floor this week, over a trillion dollars, how will you vote on that bill? bills, weate omnibus had to face those in albany. my son is currently a captain in the marine corps, and the graduate of the naval academy and decided to be a marine.

he was a graduate of the naval academy and decided to be a marine. i know it is important to fund the military, there is a lot of other spending, but i will add that i support a lot of programs like the community service program, protecting our community health centers, our agencies for people who are falling on hard times. my district has seen a massive talkingion, you are mobile theory crisis and these are real issues in my district. i hate to vote for things that do a lot of spending, but we have people who are at risk to need the support of government until we can get them back on the path to jobs. thankfully, it was a hard battle tax cuts, but it has turned out to be a great thing for my district. 95% of peopleing in my district are getting a tax cut, and that is great. they're coming up to me every day saying they're getting a tax cut. that is helping getting people

back to work, our small businesses and even large businesses are adding jobs. they areh corning, bringing jobs back from overseas. not my district, they are just outside. a number of businesses are thriving now. hopefully business growth will bring us back to cover some of the spending that we have to do in the short term right now. i'm leaning yes, because i know it is important to fund the military as a mother of a marine officer who is also in logistics. he tells me that we are in top shape in our military and i think you heard that, when general mattis came to speak last month. he said the only thing more dangerous than our enemies as the u.s. congress. we take that seriously. --st: host: $700 million for military spending in the omnibus bill, we invite viewers to join in the

conversation. for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002. we were talking with viewers earlier in our show about the opera crisis, i want to get your take on the tough stance that trump took yesterday when it came to law enforcement crackdowns on the opioid crisis and seeking death penalty sentences for the kingpins. dost: the president must throw ideas -- the president loves to throw ideas out there. i expect he knows that this is a serious issue. we have a lot of drugs coming across the border, and a lot of transactions with human trafficking. the house we recently passed human trafficking legislation. there are a lot of terrible things that are going on in our country. but this opioid crisis is really

particularlyte, in my area. it is across all strata and it is really serious. i think the president is taking a strong stance, i'm not sure i would advocate the death penalty , but i think it is up to the law enforcement, district attorneys, and in new york state but is used for murderous crimes. manyight argue that people, coming from various guilty ofld be murder, but we have to prove that. i tend to walk gingerly in that area, we need to have proof and due process before we impose sanctions and fines against people. they have to be tried in a court of law among the jury of their peers. i respect the constitutional issues there. jack, on the democrat line. good morning. i have come to the

overall,n that particularly with crime in the united states, it never ceases. because of one main reason. crime, -- if you salt all crime -- if you solved all crime, you would put judges and lawyers out of a job. in saudi arabia they deal with criminals quickly. they have a different type of economic system. it's very progressive economically, socially, and andaconservative -- socially, ultraconservative. it seems to work. on the molar issue, i wonder how much money it is going to take -- on the mueller issue, one how much money is going to take. but you do not have the guts to go after him.

regarding crime i would love to see a lot of lawyers have less frivolous lawsuits, i agree with jack on that. we have a huge crisis in this country. judge, we have a litigation explosion in our country and it has been hurt by this overreach of trial lawyers. everything becomes a way for trial lawyers to profiteer off of cases. everyone runs around on eggshells and pins and needles worrying about being issued -- being sued all the time. there have been great books about how lawyers have destroyed america and we have become such a litigious society. you're never going to get rid of crime, human nature is human nature. , i think it iser

interesting that we spent $46 million on an investigation so far that brought 13 indictments of russian nationals who -- i find it very hard to think we're going to get personal jurisdiction over that. weally that means how are going to prosecute these people? it is virtually impossible. dollars over million has been spent, and most of it was spent -- some of it was spent on trump and bernie sanders campaigns, but after that more money was spent on anti-trump protests. that was not part of russia collusion, that was after the election. i think you make some points, at what point do we really talk about collusion during the actual campaign. do you think the president should fire robert mueller? guest: let him carry on in the task is doing, hopefully he will

focus on the issue that we have to come to, the collusion he was put out for, the parameters of the investigation. i assume there is not too much more of that to go. host: what -- at what point would you support the firing? guest: i don't see any reason to fire him at this point. the letter foro the special counsel to look into some of the past abuses that have happened in the ei under the -- under the cap and in the fbi under the prior administration. mark, on the independent line. morning, thank you for c-span. i think this lady is a little confused but the problems that are in this country because she is standing behind the military industrial and technology

complex. that is the whole problem in a nutshell. inyou go back -- i just and when you were talking to a caller that was describing -- i just tuned in when you were talking to a caller that was describing how corrupt the and whatystem is, they're trying to do is totally corrupt. that is all i have to say and i would like to hear your comments. guest: i never said i supported the note or industrial complex, i think the military has to be held accountable. i think a great about general mattis is that he said that we will now be accountable. our defensethat department has never been accountable. and he's promised that the defense department will be accountable and more efficient. host: how will he show that? guest: it's a tough thing to show, we will have a mission to set up in the met -- we will set up a mission in the military, to secure our country, and somehow

that mission changes, and with greater technology for that, and people will say that is a waste of money. i think going through the efficiencies, and make sure that our contract and is less. -- he is right, there's a lot of inefficiency in the military, but mattis is trying to move the military toustrial complex more able meet the needs of the military in an efficient way in a dynamic changing environment -- environment with our enemies. i'm not naive about what is going on with a lot of spending on the military side. i think he is right in that way, but i think we need to be more efficient. ofe heard so many accounts inefficiency in the military, and mattis has said to us that we are going to try to make the military more efficient and make sure that we are building on

that. the jury is out on that. let see how it happens. but i do know that we have degraded our military ability over the years, and now we need to rebuild it, and it is more expensive and complicated now. i agree that there's a lot of corruption in small and large ways in our justice system. we see it locally, we see on the national level, we are showing that are fbi is not what we thought it was. and i agree with the caller on that. host: 15 minutes left with claudia tenney. eduardo, go ahead. caller: my question is on spending in the military. host: go ahead with your question. i do not think we should

keep spending more and more money on the military when there is no threat to us. the only threat is the rocket man, but he is no threat to us. we have things to knock and -- to knock them down before he could put them up. would you like to talk about threats to us? guest: i respectfully disagree, we have a great military, but his been degraded over the year and we need to rebuild it become technologically more dance. you can hear from every military people who have come before congress and of met with us meetings, that we need to upgrade our military in many ways. i do not serve on the health -- on the human services committee, but i have inside knowledge of what is happening, and i do

think that our military is one of the most important aspects of federal spending. the reason we created the states, the -- we a colonies, created the constitution and the federal government was mainly for military and border security. we have to make sure we are up to speed to that, and efficiency is really important. we have to hold general mattis in the department accountable. i think efficiency and having a i listen toology, some of my outstanding members ,f congress, former generals about where we are and where we are behind, and so many of our -- our pilots are unable to fly. i do not know the status is today, but a month ago we had more military personnel lost in training incidents than combat.

that is not a good state of affairs. host: on her democratic line, good morning. caller: -- host: on our democratic line, good morning. i'm delighted to hear the support for the hard-working overtax residents of the 22nd district where i live, i have two questions. support foriven her the overtaxed folks in the country, why did she support besidesax cuts which increasing the national deficit temporary taxl cuts to most americans and very .arge ones to the superrich the second question is, when is

she going to hold town meeting so she can meet with her constituents? i do not think of congressman tenney as a shrinking violet. and i'm sure town hall, if she got her spirit up, it would be a very spirited dialogue. host: those are two perfect questions, -- guest: those are two perfect questions, they have to be planted. the tax cuts give tax cuts to lower and middle income families. i hear everyday from accountants teachers,duals, and and by the way do not tell my bosses -- telling me to not tell their bosses that they are getting tax cuts. we know firsthand that tax cuts are helping. we can make these tax cuts permanent if only the democrats will stand up and vote with that's and make them permanent.

to say that the wealthy got the biggest tax cut, but we went from 39% is the highest tax rate of 37 and a half, but what we did is lower the corporate tax rate. most businesses throughout the nation's small businesses, many are getting advantages. they are creating jobs. i was a small business yesterday talkingator gillibrand that have the small business, a pass-through, got a benefit. they can now buy more equipment. this is happening all over new york twice second district. -- new york's 22nd district. townhall i love settings, very few people showed up, but i love them. i love the interaction. i love to talk about the issues. i am no shrinking violet. i ran against the virtual wall of money and was able to succeed

. i love to engage with people. i like to talk with them. i had huge townhall in camden where we had almost 300 people show up, drug the year i have been getting a lot of -- throughout the year i have been getting a lot of death threats. but i going to each counting, we didform, townhall, huge forum -- two or three, in binghamton. , wewas at the holiday inn did huge open opioid forum, we have done coffees were we have people come in. i met one-on-one with a lot of protesters. i will tyga funny story. these protesters come to my office every week -- i will tell you a funny story, these protesters come to my office every week. they don't really show up now, we brought coffee and donuts out to them.

as it is i finished a 45 minute meeting with one of the protesters and listen to her as irns -- as soon finished a 45 minute meeting with one of the protesters and listen to her concerns she went out to the media and said that she refuses to listen to me. i would love to have more people reach out to us and do meetings in town halls. we will be doing more as time goes on. but do not want to go to an chamber and have no one in their . and a lot of democrats is that you should do a townhall were we only let democrats in the room. i do not believe that is representative of our reason, let's have everyone. how do you deal with death threats? host: -- guest: the morning that steve scalise got shot i got a death threat right away, i am not worried about me, my son is doing well, my parents of passed away, i was more worried about my dog.

they post in my address on facebook. iey urged to go to my house, know that it's happened to other members. but i live alone in my house. i think as a single woman i do have legal guns at my house. i am more worried that if i'm at working with veterans who help on a daily basis, and seniors to make sure that we protect them, i'm totally opposed to reductions in social security, or medicare. especially in my region. we need those. my parents were dependent on those and i will be too. i am more worried about them, the people coming to my office. people who are coming for assistance on immigration issues. those are confidential matters. people have been very aggressive towards people in my office, posting their pictures online. it is an aggressive dialogue

that i've not seen in my political life, in my whole life . i think the temperature needs to come down. i think it would be very surprised, like this gentleman, they just sit and listen, and not listen to all the noise and the negativity, i spent him of ,0 years of my life as a lawyer helping a genuine native american against the fraudulent claim against him to try to preserve his land and culture. i did it for free, it cost me thousands of dollars and hours. the person spent millions of dollars against me in campaign, but i put up for this man and his family, and it was important to me because i care about and theng his culture true american hero that he really is. those are things i have done him i am. i worked in the former, i helped bosnian refugees, they were coming to our region -- i worked in the former yugoslavia, i

helped bosnian refugees. i worked in the yugoslavian .onsulate i worked at the refugee center and we have been wonderfully welcoming to refugees. a lot of these things do not come out. worked a lot, i'm not a person with a lot of money, but i'm a person who is put my heart and soul into the job in helping to lead the people in our community. it is frustrating. this guy, why have you not been to the town halls? he -- we notify people. it is frustrating at times. but that is politics. minutes left, peggy has been waiting, on the independent line. caller: good morning. i would like to know if she knows -- if claudia tenney knows, how much money was spent

on secretary's stents -- secondary states hillary clinton's email investigation. since she knows how much is been spent on the trump investigation. no idea, but i cannot understand why we have not had a prosecution on that side. where's eric holder on these issues? there were obvious violations and criminal actions. as a lawyer, why did we not pursue those? that is why asking for second special counsel -- i do not think anyone is above the law and we need to pursue those. i do not care who it is, republican or democrat. host: wanda is waiting on the democratic -- on the independent line. , iler: my name is wanda claim independent because i'm so frustrated with the republicans and the democrats. thank you for c-span.

now i know what is really going on in the government. ,ou guys are governing money every time trump goes to talk to the big people, he had a new tax every time he went to speak for the military people when he got every to black people -- time time goes to talk to be people in the military he wears a tie. when he comes to talk to black people he does not. i could've been a businesswoman, but because of this government, a 33-year-old felon who has not -- who is not had a charge cents --since- host: what is your question for the congresswoman? when someone wakes up in

the morning and says i'm going to go kill someone, it comes from pain. when someone says they get on just when someone gets on drugs, is because they have no hope. you guys have to start looking down at the people who are black and not have a silver spoon money. host: congresswoman i will let you jump in. guest: i think wanda is right, there is corruption on both sides. ices in the newspaper too, be an editor and publisher. i used to write editorials -- i , and i write editorials used to criticize republicans frequently because there were more republicans in our area. that is probably worth republicans do not endorse me. i've feel like -- i feel like the role of media is to be a

watchdog for the citizens regardless of party. once you get election -- once you collected you do not represent just republicans or democrats. you represent everyone. that is why it is so important for me that everyone needs to be involved, it's what we have to call out both sides and be as fair as we can. i understand their biases and -- i understand that there are biases in different medias, but it is important talk about the facts. our local media does not talk about what is going on in albany , what is going on in washington, they rarely cover anything unless it is a soundbite level issue. i look at the old newspapers in the old media accounts. in the media was doing its job. the job of the fourth estate is to report facts so public and look at that and find out what the truth is in come to their conclusion on which side they happen to believe. facts areacts -- the

crowded by -- clouded by hysteria. that is part of the struggle that everyone in our community has to face. we have so much media that we have never had in the past. so hardial media, it is to know who is telling the truth. i think that is a challenge for all of us. host: we have to end >> the house expected to gavel back in shortly. starting its work today on a measure that would allow terminally ill patients to use experimental drugs that have not been approved by the f.d.a. another exempting some financial institutions from requirements under the dodd-frank financial regulation law. before the house does gavel back in we'll look at more from today's "washington journal." nt. we welcome congressman brendan boyle