and other exclusive locations. takesn the new congress office in january, it have the youngest, most diverse class in history. startinglive on c-span january 3. >> north dakota senator heidi heitkamp lost her reelection bid to kevin cramer. our series of interviews with outgoing members of congress, we talk about her six years in the senate. this is 30 minutes. one of theheitkamp, speeches in the video library, speech, it got rather emotional. what were you thinking?

thought iitkamp: i hope i can get through this. i was lucky my colleagues came to cheer me on. it was an opportunity to talk about the experience of being a senator and putting it in a perspective how i approached it. the kindt the need for of change that is going to move the senate forward. part of the easy speech. recognizing staff and people. >> on election night, what were you thinking? sen. heitkamp: i didn't expect the margin. i admit that. i knew that this was a tough race. if all the stars aligned, i could pull it out. it was not a shock to me when i lost. >> what does this tell you about the demographics of north dakota? sen. heitkamp: it tells me it

has gotten more conservative. if you look at polling data from ran toiran -- the time i 2018, an additional 12% of people identified as republican. you could count on 20% of people identified republican or democrat who would be willing to vote for someone who was not in their political party. i think that has changed. it has hardened and it is tougher to get people to cross the aisle and vote for someone else. the irony is, if you listen to what people say, we want people to be more bipartisan. we want people to be more collaborative and less linked to an ideology. when they vote, that is not how they vote. >> how did it go in terms of bipartisanship? >> for me, it always worked.

i said, i am here to build relationships that benefit nor the code in spirit you saw in the speech, people talking about bipartisanship. opportunity for dodd frank reform which would not have been possible without a senator who i nothing but fond feelings. i think he was a great leader on the banking committee. a lot of the result of that has been in achieving the commission on the status of native american kids. we were able to forge an ateresting political bill as

carbon capture bill. if we had talked about it as a carbon capture bill, it would have never happened. we talked about it as the technology bill. you have got to do it. you have got to approach people respectfully. one of the reasons why i was checkedul, i just ideology at the door and set a goal that was about getting something done and not about winning. winning in this town is about politics. abouting should be setting goals and getting things done. we did o too much winning, too much politics.

on big things like, obviously, theyme court nominees, don't realize behind that our everyday things that happen. is we need to have more successes at that level to build enough confidence and trust to have success at a higher level. i think we could have gotten a bipartisan tax bill passed. i think there was no interest in doing a bipartisan tax bill. i think we could have done reforms of the health care bill. there were knows -- was no interest in reforms because it was about winning politically governing in a sustainable manner. i was engaged in presenting

other ideas and factors, it just did not work out. >> is there a vote you ever regretted? sen. heitkamp: i don't think so. i thought about this. you are not the first person to ask me. time, i would say we never voted on the syrian request because the president eventually pulled the request, that the review of what was happening in syria at the time, i think engagement at that time could have been more supportive of taking more direct action in syria. if i have a regret, it is what happened in syria. >> if you were to read a story about your six years in the senate, what would you include? -- write a story about what happened in your six years in the senate, what would you include? i would include

the bank reform bill. opening up oil exports. it has been hugely significant rowing north dakota's domestic production industry to read work for native american kids. which is the stuff to stay in the fight. amber alert's. the missing and murdered indigenous women. we think we are going to get across the finish line. i can go through all the things i have contributed to advancing hopefully a better life for indian people, indigenous people in this country. i would definitely include the work i did on 45 q, the very significant work on carbon capture sequestration. trying to build those technologies to tackle climate changes -- challenges.

human trafficking. one of the prime sponsor of the bill that shutdowns backpage.com. the farm bill. a lot of people didn't realize there is a provision that may be the first time in a long time we have legislated on cuba. it opens up our marketing programs within the usda for promoting products in cuba. i could go through every day stuff i think it will matter to people in north dakota and already does matter to people in north dakota. it is a record of solid accomplishments. would be possible if we were not working in a bipartisan way. >> and you are working in the senate, -- first came there, did anybody take you under their wing? i would say no.

everybody is so busy. you learn by trial and error. i stepped on his toes, i will not do that again. language,se colorful during the debate on immigration reform which we passed. northerno get some border stuff. there is another accomplishment. trying to make sure we don't just focus on the southwest order. we don't ignore the northern border, which is critical. it is huge. i couldn't understand why during the immigration debate, i could not get this northern border attention. we drafted a bill and got it signed into law. we now have a northern border strategy which we do not have to the southern border. rings, the all these matter in a continuum.

the end of the day, i would say i came here to get a job done. and in many cases was successful. >> what surprised you the most about how this town works? sen. heitkamp: one of the things i have said is how much power staff has. team and i give a lot of economy to staff, but i do not give them decision-making authority. and members take a shortcut it empowers staff in ways i think is not necessarily healthy for the institution. when members do not become personally engaged, you do not till those relationships. things get done staff to staff. i think i talked about this culture of failure.

dohave accepted, we cannot big things like salt deficits. solve deficits, infrastructure. dakota, whererth you assumed, this is a good idea, we can get this done, the attitude here is, it will never happen. the is what we got a lot on will export. they said, this is a new issue. this isn't something we have been working on for five years. not is an interest group particularly attractive to your site of the aisle and you are not going to get this done. i said, there is no good reason not to get it done. proved ihing i hope we getting that across the finish line, when you have a good idea and a compelling argument and make that argument, you work your tail off, working all

angles to get people engaged, you can in fact get things done. what did you enjoy about this job the most? not a lot ofp: people talk about enjoyment of this job. it is an honor to be here. people think i had a ine when she was trying to convince me to run, she said, the senate, they are kind of a retirement community. they will not work very hard. i thought, why would you fight for a job that was so unimportant you didn't have to work hard? here, that was completely opposite my experience. i think i worked harder and had work harder because of

the political makeup of my state. i did not come here and leave my family back in north dakota and end my life not to get things done. at one point i said there is no enjoy here. enjoyment is part of joy. there is not a lot of joy in the senate. we slogged through. for me, it is the relationships with other people. i walk out with friendships that are so deep and so significant to me and enrich me. that is where the joy comes from. >> why did you first get involved in politics? it iseitkamp: interesting. i went to law school in oregon. had basically a specialty degree in environmental law. we literally were on the cusp of

landfills blowing up and exploding. love canal cases were starting to reach the american consciousness. we knew there was a degradation if it was continuing, rivers were on fire. everybody forgets how bad it used to be. i wanted desperately to be involved in environmental policy. i went to law school. epa.e here to work for and then an amazing thing happened, it was an election. all of the momentum seemed to stall out. watt, a lot of the early came in the reagan administration. it is not enough to be involved in policymaking.

you have to be politically engaged. policy agenda for the country. helpd, i am going to candidates i like. i met tim conrad who convince me to be a tax lawyer. substantial background in tax and he convinced me to run for office. mentor in my life, it has been him. he said, be honest. >> relationship with the leadership, chuck schumer, mitch mcconnell, what has it been like? sen. heitkamp: i don't have much of a relationship with mitch. i scheduled a meeting with him. i don't know what he thought. mike johanns, one of the finest people i served with, had left

the senate. there was an opening in the millennial corporation which i thought he would be great for. a republican nominee. i called mike and said, i thought you will be great for this. you bring great perspective. you understand the senate, the political challenges. he said to, i am not going to ask for it. i said, is it ok if i ask for it? asked if he could put mike johanns in. mitch was kind of confused why was there fighting for mike johanns for this appointment. mitch does what he says he's going to do. saybit of for policy i will that is there is when we came, there was a lot of discussion about full of us to reform.

-- filibuster reform. said, this is the cooling off, the teacup and the saucer. is notst thing he does only doesn't reverse what harry did, he exacerbates it. there is a lot of help are .roceed in that move the one thing i will tell you is , if someone is going to be a leader, i like them to do what they say they are going to do. no one should be surprised by what he says. he usually does what he says he will do. >> you won nearly six years ago. did you feel you had a target on your back? oh, yeah.amp: ironically and foolishly, i thought if i had a list of accomplishments, if i did all

these things i said i was going that mattered. it did not matter. let's talk about the campaign. could you have done anything differently? make mistakes in campaigns. there are things i wish had not happened. after the of the day, kavanaugh vote, it got to be too big of a lisft. decision?d to that sen. heitkamp: i had to make a this person was qualified for the supreme court. there is not a moment i regret that vote. >> to the democrats have done anything sen. heitkamp: in terms of the process differently? -- -- in terms the process?

sen. heitkamp: soaker the republicans. it was two sides of the same coin. every time anyone wants to examine every piece of archived record, are we going to do that question mark the democrats are going to say, we don't have to give those records. we didn't do it for kavanaugh. beginning, there were mistakes made in terms of the process. probably the thing that was most disturbing, everybody had to out an announcement with the process.hrough it seems to me it is not handing

over a blank check to the president. the reason the supreme court is said not, and i decision other than declaring war, you are not making it just for today. you know they are going to be on the court for 30 years. you have to think, is that someone who can mature over 30 years and be impartial for 30 years? that wasn't -- my judgment was that was not somebody who deserves a lifetime appointment to the most important court in the world. >> let's go back to maryland garland. -- merrick garland. what were the mistakes by the republicans? sen. heitkamp: they should have given him a hearing and voted yes or no. gone through the process.

mitch, hepect for said i'm not going to do it. he meant it. the point i have made is for how many years, the courts have always been political. ish about be pollyanna- this, but we have taken it to a other level. this is a huge voting issue for the right. they will other level. this is a huge voting plug theil kinds of behavior as long as they get a judicial nomination. what they have ignited with all a bigs, it will be floating issue on the left, more so than it has ever been. this is a bad trend for the supreme court. >> at some point, the democrats will regain control of the senate. what about the issue of payback?

you know, when people said, why would you even gorsuch after what happened to garland, i said, two wrongs do not make a right. at some point, some of the has to be the adult in the room. let's go back to doing this the right way. you can take your vote one way or another, but let's go back to a process we can be proud of. i don't think the public saw it in the kavanaugh hearings, up process anyone should be proud anyone should be proud of. >> when you first can to the senate, what were you thinking? i am thinking, why am in this little room with all these people? it was kind of overwhelming.

everybody wants to find out who you are. if you come from the house, which a lot of my colleagues in my class did. or you had been a governor, they kind of have a sense of who you are. if you come as the used to be attorney general, a lot of people want to know who you are. somebody who really likes people. i like listening to people. i like hearing ideas. it was a fast-paced but interesting experience. and then you are trying to figure out with the committee assignments mean. people don't realize how significant that will be. what the expectations are. the other thing that is different between the house and the senate is when you are senator, you are expected to are, it doesn't matter, you

expected to work on health care. i knew with the top issues were i wanted to deal with. including the farm bill, we had not passed of the farm bill. engaging and working on those issues. getting ready to go. as i told the story yesterday, i did not come to this. six years later, what has it been like? it is like coming to a funeral every day. tough.mpty and >> what we you be thinking when you leave on your final day? sen. heitkamp: what is next? >> what is next? sen. heitkamp: i have no idea. >> what would you like to do? sen. heitkamp: stay engaged in the things i care about.

i did a lot of work on childhood trauma. we have about a third of our work in the opioid bill. this was an interesting exercise. what we did was say, this is new to people. they have never been exposed to this concept of childhood trauma unless they are trained or have served in a capacity where they have worked with. how do we get the senate to engage? what we did is we started holding seminars. to educate staff. from that work, we were able to get aough momentum to piece of childhood trauma policy embedded in the opioid bill. i will continue my work on childhood trauma. i will continue my work on the

half of native american people. i will continue to preach economic strategies that can work for the people. i will continue to encourage policymakers to look up. yout just deal with facts have in front of you. start understanding the decisions you make today affect seven generations. they will have consequences well into the future. you have to understand what the consequences and challenges are of the future. always looking up. never looking backwards. that is who i am. what advice would you give your successor? sen. heitkamp: someone asked me that yesterday. i thought, after i gave my farewell speech, write your farewell speech on your first day and live by it. the aspirational every day about what you can do.

with smalltisfied things. you are here to do good things and great things. it is goals and aspirations and what you did. senator, thank you for your time. with daver interview brat who lost his reelection bid in november. nationalme on to the .tage by defeating eric cantor how do you do that? >> it is not all clear. people and iof