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recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >>harter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> and now meet new members of congress as they talk about their early liv, evious careers, families, and what drove their interest in nng for office. coming up next, conversations withepresentatives troy downinofontana, dry repeaters -- jamar repeaters, adam gray, and kelly morrison of minnesota. >> one of more than 60 new members of the u.s. house is troy downing of montana.

the republican has been a scientist, teacher, and businessman who also served as montana state auditor. he tells the story of his career including his enlistment in the air force after the attacks of september 11. >> did not have any family money or family connections. my mom worked at a grocery store. somehow, i was able to be successful as an american. went to school in new york, went to new york university, ended up getting hired as a research scientist. i left there to do a startup company. of course, my mom is like, what is a startup company? i successfully merged that with nasa and yahoo! inc.. god bless america. fast-forward to 2001, i worked a

lot on helping others do the same thing i did. when september 11 happened, it really hit me in the chest. i thought, this country has been good to me, and what have i done to deserve it? i did not have an answer. i was in alaska, so i was one of the last people on the planet to find out about it. i got stuck there because borders were closing. as soon as i could get home, i walked into a recruiter's office, and i said, hey, i got a pilot's license and i studied at nyu. what can you do with me? recruiter says, how old are you? i said 34. he goes, good. 35 is the cutoff. i was not prior military. i had no idea what i was doing. i come back with my test scores,

and the recruiter rolled his eyes and said, ok, you qualify for any job i can offer. he asked have you ever thought about going into intel. i said i never thought about going into anything. it sounded like i was sitting in a dark room staring at a computer. he has this other guy come in and talk to me, and he says, i have got this horrible job. i'm losing my hearing, my back hurts, my knees are blown out, but it's the best thing i can imagine doing with my life. i said, what do you do? he said would take his helicopters and fly them in formation in the middle of the night with night vision goggles on. we go out in the desert and find busted up kids and bring them home. i go, that is me. i got sworn in to the combat search and rescue squadron. i had just turned 35 when i went into basic training. i was too old for a commission.

at five years old, i was grandpa, but graduated with honors. went on to the air force base and got distinguished graduate there. >> how did those experiences collectively prepare you for a career in congress? >> oh, boy. going into that, like i said, i needed to feel like i deserved everything that this country meant to me. there's so much opportunity and is not lost on me, and going into the military was interesting. i came out of technology and education, so i had no idea what that culture was like, but let me tell you, the people that i deployed with are still some of my best friends, some of the best people that i have known because they care about this country. they are willing to sign on the dotted line and put themselves at risk, put their families at risk of losing a son, a father, a husband, and one of the things that really made me smile is

when i got sworn in last week, i had a bunch of guys from my former squadron come out to my swearing in, and it was like a little reunion. one guy that i went to the schoolhouse with and a couple of guys that i served with and deployed with. i will tell you, we did a capital tour here. we brought in congressman zinke from the first district, montana, so between me, hidden, and a bunch of air force guys, we had an awesome late-night touring the capital. >> how would you describe yourself in terms of your political thinking? representative downing: here's the thing -- i consider myself a very conservative person, and i think a lot of the opportunities that i enjoyed are at risk of being squandered, and i think the american dream is killing me farther and farther away, so i worry about that. inflationary pressure.

i worry about a kid today starting out their lives, starting out their families could ever have a pastor by their first home. how do they do that? i think we need some pretty serious fiscal constraint. we need to start working on balancing budgets, you know? or at least being very thoughtful about our appropriations and how we are spending money. economics 101, the more money you put into a system, the more expensive everything gets, and more expensive everything gets, the farther away that american dream goes. i consider myself a very conservative person, but i also understand, you know, this is a team effort. we need to get wins on the board. we need to figure out how to get those wins working together, not against each other. >> as we wrap up, you mentioned those grandkids. tell us about your family and what they are thinking now. representative downing: i think everybody is a little bit in shock. heather, my wife, is here in d.c. with me. we have 4 kids in their early

20's to almost 30, and i think they are very excited about this. it's very different for all of us. they are all very different, but as most families know, your kids can come from the same place, and you all and end up very different. they are all unique. my mom was out here for my swearing in. she was very excited about it. we've got a lot of work in front of us. i've got some pretty strong feelings on where we need to get, but we need to work together and start getting wins on the board, make sure we can continue to protect everything that makes america great and everything that gave me the opportunity, a poor kid from nowhere, to be standing here and talking to you. >> democrat samari figures -- shomari figures is an attorney

and former law clerk. he talks about his career, including becoming the first representative for the newly redrawn second district of alabama. >> recently redrawn, but includes a lot of the historic parts of the state that people are familiar with. i come from mobile, birthplace of mardi gras. the district now extends i-65 all the way to montgomery, which is the birthplace of the civil rights movement as we know it, and extends east all the way to the georgia state line. in between those points, you have a few more cities that people have heard of. birthplace of john lee and harper lee, truman capote. tuskegee, home of the tuskegee institute and the tuskegee airmen, so it is a very diverse

community or diverse district, rather. very large but also very diverse, but it shares a lot of the same issues. we have two primary urban areas, at least urban for the purposes of alabama in mobile and montgomery, but between that, we have a lot of rural areas that have a lot rural struggles and issues that are common and needs that are common in rural areas across the country. >> what does it mean for you to be the first congressman of that district? representative figures: it is always significant to be the first of anything. we are certainly grateful and humbled and blessed to have the opportunity, and for mean, it means the chance to get to work. we did not get in the race to win election but to have the opportunity to come to washington and bring home solutions to some of the issues, especially in areas where people feel like they have not had the opportunity to have a seat at the table when it comes to federal representation. >> you are not a total newcomer to washington. you work in the obama

administration and capitol hill. what kind of work did you do? rep. figures: i started my federal service as a law clerk way back when. i worked in president obama's administration. we worked across my portfolio, which at the time included agencies of justice, hhs, and a few others in terms of building policies throughout their teams. i then went to the department of justice and then came to the hill. i was a hill staffer over on the senate side and like every hill staffer on that side, i had a very, very broad portfolio that included law enforcement, civil rights, but also jumped into a lot of homeland security issues, immigration matters, child welfare matters, small business matters. we had a lot we were handling. telecom matters were also in my portfolio back then.

i had the opportunity to learn so much about government. >> everything you learned, what did that mean to you as you get started in this part of your career? >> it certainly gives you insight into the different levers of government that you can pull. being in congress, you have access to -- it's not really the judiciary unless you are in court, but certainly across the executive space, you have so much access to so many different things were having that sort of insight -- inside knowledge of how agencies work, processes, the grant program decision-makers, those sorts of things, how to navigate the hill, having relationships already with staff on the house and senate side as well, all of that helps to be able to get the ground running and help us be able to staff up with a very experienced staff very quickly here in d.c., helps us to be able to go out and assign tasks and pursue our priorities in a manner we think is very efficient. >> you are the son of political

figures in alabama. tell us about your parents. rep. figures: both my parents have been in elected office throughout my life. there is not a single day of my life where one or both my parents were not an elected official. it started with my father when he was elected to state senate in alabama in 1978. he served in that capacity until 1986 when he died. my mother was on the city council in mobile, and then she ran for that state senate seat and has been in the state senate since then. >> your father also did some significant legal work involving a case involving the kkk. tell us about that. >> my father integrated the university of alabama's law school. following that experience, he came back home and lunged into civil rights -- among other things. he was a labor lawyer as well,

but spent a lot of time focusing on civil rights. one of the more noteworthy things he did was bringing it lawsuit against the united klans of america after their lynching of a young man in mobile. that certainly put a dent into their financial capacity. that is a case that has loomed large over my life. it is something my father was very well known for and is still remembered around here for. >> what did your parents teach about public service? rep. figures: that you have an obligation to get back to people responsible for you being you in the first place. every day we have something to be grateful for. there are people across this country that you have an obligation to make sure that you are going to work every single day to make government work for

them, make it work in the right way it is supposed to work. i come from a state where it has a long and storied and well-documented documented history in terms of the federal government having to step in and make the state do right by its people. with that comes an obligation for younger generations to step up and be involved and make sure they continue to do right, and that is something my parents really instilled in us. >> tell us about the rest of your family. rep. figures: it starts with my wife. we have three kids, three children. we had them on the house floor and that task was tougher than winning the seat, wrinkling the kids. my wife has enabled me to be successful in doing this, able to hit the road and the campaign trail. she is at enormous success in her own right. several degrees. my wife has 4 different degrees, came from ivy league

institutions, a very successful business, came from immigrants that made it to america and really made a name for themselves. >> you are only 39 years old, right? longer-term thoughts? rep. figures: we will see what the future leads to, but right now we got elected to do a job here and i look forward to doing it every single day. >> one of the more than 60 new members of the u.s. house is republican mark harris of north carolina. it is his first time in elected office, and he comes to washington with a long career as a pastor in his home state. he talks here about how his faith and desire for public service come together in his new role. >> i have been a pastor for 35 years. long time, it seems, but mostly in north carolina. i did survive and a half years at a church in augusta, georgia, but primarily have been involved in leading churches -- first baptist church charlotte and

currently i'm pastor in a church just north of charlotte, so very excited for the opportunity to be here with you today. >> when in your life did you know you wanted to be a pastor? rep. harris: i had grown up, went to appalachian state university, major in political science, proceeded to law school like many political science majors do and actually was accepted to campbell university school of law and was getting to start their that fall, and i met my wife at appalachian state. we were planning to get married that summer, 1987, and fascinatingly, two weeks before my wedding and two months before i was to start law school, god called me to preach, and it was very clear in my heart what god was asking me to do, needing me to do. instead of law school, i shifted course and went to southeastern baptist theological seminary. >> when did you start thinking about politics? rep. harris: i had an interest

at age 14. that is when i would say i got my start because i worked in the americans for reagan office senator jesse helms has started. in my congressional office, i have that reagan poster that was hanging on the door where i would go in and out, so i was always involved. again, thought that i would just always be involved but never really had thought that much about running for office until later on after i was pastoring and became very involved in 2011, 2012, and the marriage amendment. >> what do you remember most about that experience in the reagan years? rep. harris: i was excited not only to make phone calls and send out mailers and all the things people do -- put up signs -- but i got the opportunity to come to the inauguration and here i am years later about to attend another inauguration. in 1981, i had the privilege of seeing ronald reagan inaugurated

as president of the united states, and that is one of my fondest memories for sure. >> back to your work as a pastor and now congress, how do faith and service come together for you as you begin your career here? >> for me, and one of the things i have often said in interviews and talking with folks that makes things a little unique for me is there's a lot of political footballs, and a lot of issues that are on the table and people toss them back and forth and debate them back and forth. for me, as a pastor, as someone said -- i think it was mike huckabee, probably the first to say this -- that when you do the pathology report on america and see the situation for what it is, a pastor has that unique ability to put a name and a face to just about every issue. all the issues we debate, the political issues we are out there, if it's a family going through joblessness, a young girl that found herself pregnant and not sure what she's going to do, counseling people and meeting people, i just have had an opportunity to put a name and face to many of the issues that

often times political footballs and that gives me a unique perspective. >> you have given a shot at running for congress a few times not quite getting here. what made you run again? rep. harris: in 2018, i went through a unique situation. decided not to run in the new election. then bishop stepped in and ran that time. i have known dan and he was a great friend in the state senate. he ran for the seat and won it, so he has been serving faithfully. when he called me in the summer of 2023 to say, look, i believe you need to run for attorney general if you still have the stomach for this, he said, i think you would make a great candidate. my wife and i prayed about it, thought it through, and thought this was perhaps our time, and it turned out to be. >> tell us about your family and what i think about you being here. rep. harris: they were all

appear for spring. we have a great family. i have three children that are grown and married. they gave us 10 grandchildren. i had the privilege of having six of my 10 grandchildren on the floor with me during swearing in. that was exciting. the four youngest were not quite ready to do that, but they range in age from nine all the way down to two. we are blessed. i have a daughter who is a teacher, a son who was an attorney and youngest son who is a pastor as well. >> this place keeps people busy. will you be able to continue your work as a pastor? rep. harris: i don't know how great a pastor i will be as far as always being there, but i have a great staff, so i am able to preach. when i am there on weekends, i will be able to continue preaching on sundays. >> what kind of mark would you like to make here in washington? rep. harris: if you like we have to restore the confidence of the american people that we are going to do what we say. when president trump had the

theme promises made, promises kept, that just really rings true, not only with me but with so many people across my district and across america, and what we are working on is to try , the very issues we ran on, trying to do something about them. when you see me give a floor speech, it will probably be about something that happened on the border, protecting girls and girl sports, speaking about those issues that we ran on that are very important. getting this economy moving again, and inflationary issues. getting us energy-dominant once again. all of those are things i want to make my mark on and i want to just move the ball forward. >> democrat adam gray of california is one of more than 60 members of the u.s. house. the democrat spent 10 years in the california state assembly before running for congress. in the 13th district of california. his race was the last to be called in the 2024 elections, and he talks about the month it took for him to find out that he flipped the seat from republican to democrat. rep. gray: in california, we

have a vote by mail system, and a lot of our ballots require signature verification, and the process goes on for up to a month after the election. voters need to be contacted, told that their vote has not been counted yet, and given the opportunity to go down to the county registrar's office and make sure that their vote is counted, so that month was full of doing network. calling voters and saying, if you know your vote has not been counted, you should make sure you rectify that. >> you ran previously. tell us that story. rep. gray: iran in 2022 after serving in -- i ran in 2022 after serving in the state district. we ran a tough race and ended up losing by a little over 500 votes. that was certainly a disappointment, but got back in it won in 2024 by 187 votes.

>> did you know at the time you lost that you would run again? rep. gray: i did not. i have been what i call a radical centrist my entire clinical career. i say that because i do not play a moderate on tv or say things to get reelected. that's where my head and my heart are. in a world where parties have become hypercritical and partisan and sharp in that way, it does not encourage people like me who really are moderates, who believe that working together and common ground values, it discourages you from hunting to run because you are not only fighting the other party by fighting your own party have the time. i had to spend some time thinking, but as i watched the congress behave the last two years, coming out as one of the most unproductive congress is in u.s. history and just hyper partisanship and fighting and everybody blaming somebody else for not getting the work done, and encouraged me that congress needs people like me that

believe in working together and believe that we are all americans and we have common goals and common interest. >> tell us about the early years growing up in california. what was that like? do you remember? rep. gray: i love california central valley. people always think of hollywood as -- california as hollywood and silicon valley. we have the largest agriculture valley in the world. we produce fresh fruits and vegetables and specialty crops across the country. i have the largest barry district -- derry district -- derry --dairy district. my family sold dairy equipment. i just got appointed to the agricultural committee, so excited about doing that work. >> what did you learn from being in the agriculture business? rep. gray: i will tell you, my

dad said, do something, even if it is wrong but don't just stand there. there is a work ethic in agriculture that i think congress could learn from. when i think about what goes on here, sometimes it feels like every politician you talk to back here has somebody to blame. it is the other party's fault, the other person's fault. i think about working for my dad at the store, and if i would walk in and the job was not done that my dad had asked me to do and my answer was "it's paul's fault," i cannot imagine the look on his face. at the end of the day, people want results. they want communities that are safe, good education, good health care, and we ought to be doing that work every day. that's why i came to washington. >> was there a specific moment in your life when you realized this was going to be a career for you? rep. gray: no, it really just

happen. in college, i think i wanted to play professional baseball, but my fastball was not that good. as i got involved in politics, coming from a rural community in california, i realized how a lot of rural communities get overlooked or ignored in california and i think around the country, right? the deeper i got involved, my family was always involved in community service. my mom would go down to city council and give it to them if you thought they were not doing things good for the community, so that was the environment i grew up in. speak up, worked to make sure your community is a better place to live, and that is how i got involved in politics, and one thing led to another and one job led to another, and here i am standing in the united states congress, one of the great honors i think anyone could have. probably the thing i'm most known for is the radical centrist thing.

i was the chairman of a moderate democratic group, and i really tried to work on bipartisan solutions. the problems that really are most critical in my district are water, water, and water. you can imagine representing a bunch of farmers, access to affordable, clean water is critical to the success of the industry, so i spent a lot of time in the state legislature. i was a co-author of a bipartisan infrastructure at. -- act. we are seeing the first new reservoir in california being built in many years as a result of my work. another area i'm passionate about his health care in rural communities. i worked for 10 years in the state legislature to start a medical school in my hometown, the university of california merced. my next goal is to bring a full-blown uc hospital to the valley. i am hopeful that my work in congress can help achieve that. >> you mentioned bipartisanship.

your a centrist. i know it is early, but where will we see you practice that mentality? rep. gray: i just got my first cnn appearance the other day on a show with jake tapper with four freshman congressmen. they asked me if there are opportunities to work with the new administration and i said, of course there is. the new president has talked about border security, he has talked about dr. -- the aca -- he has talked about daca and fixing that for immigrants who have lived here their entire life. those are areas of common ground. i can develop a working relationship with anybody. one of my new colleagues on the same panel said he is here to destroy the democratic party's agenda, so that did not sound like working-together language to me, but i remain open-minded

and i look forward to meeting with people like that and let sit down and see what we have in common. >> tell us about how your family feels. rep. gray: they are tremendously excited. they still call me and tell me to do the right thing. my parents to drive a hard bargain, and they want to see this place represent the people in the central valley of california, so they keep me accountable and keep me humble, and i'm blessed to have a wonderful family that is supportive of what i do one of more than 60 new members of the u.s. house. he represent the entire state of alaska as its at large congressman. he is a businessman and talks about coming from a prom nation's capital alaska political family. >> this began with my grandfather, also named nick begich. he first ran for congress in 1968.

was not successful in that race. ran again in 1970 and beat a gentleman named frank measure -- murkowski.sadly on a plane f, disappeared, nferl found in 1972 late in the election cycle. actually he ended up twinge race anyway. there was a special election race because he was not found. winning that special election was don young who became as many people know the longest serving republican in u.s. house history. moving forward from that, i have an uncle named mark begich. he was a united states senator from alaska. defeated ted stevens in 2008 and served one term in the united states senate. i do come from a line of

traditional democrats but i was actually raised on my mom's side of the family. mom's side of the family is conservative republican, father's side of the family is democrat and of course i'm a republican. >> did you waiver with that mixture? >> i didn't. i come from the business side so i sort of grew up in a entrepreneurial family. very conservative. strong, christian roots. that's how i was raised. that set of policies that we were thinking made a lot of stones me growing up and i stuck with that throughout. >> first time in elective owfs, correct? >> that's correct. >> what did you learn from all of those names you just mentioned? >> you have great debate. when the family would get together for thanksgiving, christmas. there was always a debate among the democrats on policy. that would e represent on any

opportunity the family had to get together. you learned that you can have a vigorous debate. that is good. that is ok. that is important, in fact. i'm ready to engage in that great debate in the halls of congress. >> you do come from business. you have an m.b.a. and previous business experience before rung for elective office. what were those experiences? >> my undergraduate degree is from baylor university. i worked for a little while for a publicly trading company. interesting story. i actually asked my future father in law, girlfriend's dad at the time if i could marry his daughter. he said no. you're going to have to get a masters degree if you're going to marry my daughter. i said very good, challenge accepted. i worked in deerborn, michigan for a few years.

i spend about a year working in the car group. they told me they were going to give me mustang. they gave me mini vans instead. i had a great opportunity to work in u.s. manufacturing and decided the detroit area was probably not the best fit for my wife and. we thought let's go back to alaska. went back to alaska. that was over 20 years ago now and that's our home. >> we have talked about your business career and your political family. did you uls want to get in politics at some point in life? >> it was something that was around. ever present growing up but it was not something that i really thought deeply about. my view has been historically that most of the value that is created is created in the private sector. i wanted to be a value creator in the private sector. when i moved to alaska, i started a software business. built it up to about 150 people

across multiple countries. we focused on supporting early stage companies predominantly working with start-ups. i think that innovation cycle is so important to the united states. it is such an important ingredient the mix of what makes america exceptional. i want to make sure those opportunities continue for new entrepreneurs and new businesses and the people that they are going to employee. as we see the regulatory environment continue to encroach on the ability for an entrepreneur to start a business, run a business, raise capital for that business, grow that business in a competitive environment, we have to push back on that. that is part of the reason i wanted to run for this seat. >> what part of the state do you live in? >> a town just north of anchorage. no stop lielgt lights. it is a great place to raise a family. my wife and i have one son. it is 12 years old.

it has been a fantastic community. it is, you know, it is near enough to anchorage that you have the convenience of a large city but small enough that you know your neighbors and understand who is in your community. we have really enjoyed it. that is reflective of much of alaska. we are a small community in a massive state. folks understand that alaska which is nearly 20% of u.s. land mass and more than half the coastline only has 730,000 people in it. 40% of those people live in anchorage. you talk about rural, in my home state, rural means you don't have a road. that is rural in alaska. >> i was going to ask you about the unique challenges being at-large representative and from alaska. what else should people know? >> alaska has a role to play. i think a lot of people look at alaska and see the tv shows, the reality tv shows that talk about alaska. that is a great exposure for our state, but our state is so much more than what you see on tv.

we have more estimated, undiscovered natural gas, oil reserves than any other state in the country. we have 2/3 of the critical minerals that we need on our critical minerals list in economic quantities in my home state. we provide more than 60% of the nation's seafood. we are a critical come opponent the resource economy and the things that president trump has been speaking about for the last couple of years, drill, baby, drill, mining, these are industries that are critical to alaska, yes, but critical to our nation as well. if we're going to restore domestic production, if we're going to move those supply chains back to u.s. shores, that begins in alaska. >> we love asking the farther away members this question. how often will you be able to get home as a member of congress? >> as often as possible. we have a very heavy workload coming up. there is much work to be done now that we have the trifecta,

the house, the senate, the office to have presidency. there are show horses and workhorses. i came here to work but i'll g getting back home to alaska as often as i can. >> one of more than 60 members of the u.s. house is democrat kelly morrison of minnesota. a physician, an ob/gyn who also served in the minnesota house and senate. the representative talks here about her roles as a doctor and legislature come together in congress. >> bag physician is about trying to help people to make a positive difference in people's lives and listening. when i spent most of my days as a doctor, listening to what's on their mind, what's bothering them, to what hurts and then together to figuring out a health plan to go forward. being a legislature is a lot like that. we door knock. hold town halls and listen to

our constituents and come wake up a plan which sometimes is in the form of a bill or legislation. i come from a science background. like evidence of facts and try to pursue policy evidence-based in that same way. >> you were born in minneapolis and talked about growing up in minnesota and your early life experiences. what do you remember most? >> i'm a sixth generation minute societian. we're prowtd of our lakes and rivers. i have childhood memories of swimming in lakes. my family and i go up to the boundary waters and we take our three kids up to the boundary waters which is great to unplug and relax and listen to the quiet and see the stars. but as a kid, we went up north a lot, again, to play in our lakes. and i had a younger brother and the four of us were a pretty

tight family. we moved a lot when i was a kid. we lived actually in mexico city, new jersey and boston, but we would always come back to minnesota in between and eventually we both settled there too. i'm really proud of our state and its people and am honored to represented the third district in congress. >> when and how did politics come into the picture for you? >> i was the a practicing ob/gyn taking care of my patients and raising my three kids. when the presidential campaign and election happened, i had never been involved in politics. women's health get politicized but i was so concerned about the hyper partisanship and the polarization happening in the country in that election and the aftermath. i'm a lifelong democrat but i grew up in a republican family. so this point where we are, where your political affiliation equates with your morality and

who you have are as a person. i got involved in our local senate distribute and learned that a pretty extreme anti-choice republican was holding the statehouse office there. so did a lot door knocking and listening to people and given that the president had run on appointing justices to the court that would overturn row vs. wade, i was concerned about what that would mean for healthcare in our country. i decided to get off the sidelines and run for office. i approached that campaign like a community building exercise. we door knocked the district almost four times. i had thousands of conversations and i really think one conversation at a time we broke through and beat a three-term republican incumbent where it had never been held by a democrat before. four years in the house, two years in the senate. i worked really hard to be a

bridge builder, to turn down the volume and do more listening than talking and passed one of 90 billes into law, many with bipartisan support and of course as the only ob/gyn in the legislature, i helped lead the effort to protect access to reproductive healthcare in minnesota which was in need of protection in the wake to dobbs decision. >> talk about the experience you had. washington right now is not known as a place where bridges are built between the parties. how do you see yourself in the political debate here? >> i grew up in a republican family. my dad has theories about why i was a democrat. he has a lot of jokes about it, but he is one of my heroes. he is one of the people i'm closest to. he still would consider himself a republican. we had a lifetime conversation about policy and politics. i have the utmost respect for him and he has respect for me too. one of my proudest moments as a kid was listening to my dad talk

to a friend of his, a republican friend. his friend said to him jack, what happened to kelly? what are all of these political views she has? he said we raised our kids to be ifnt thinkers. i'm really proud of her. that was important for me as a kid. we talked about politics a lot. we had rousing debates at the dinner table. we love and respect each other and sometimes we learn something from each other. we need to be reaching across the aisle at all times, now more than ever in these hyper polarized times. we are -- door knocking is the antidote to this i think. you are reminded again and again that we have more in champion common than we don't. my favorite door knocks with with died in the wool trump supporters who would never vote for me but i promise you we can find something in common, sometimes just a shared love to have minnesota vikings.

if we can share laugh, i see that as a win and a repair to our frayed social fabric. >> as a physician, this city and country, healthcare is always under debate in some form of fashion. as a physician, what are your thoughts on how the country with meet the challenges that rise ahead? >> oh, boy, that is a big important question. i dug into it in the minnesota legislature, particularly around the cost of prescription drugs. i have seen patients struggle to afford the medications that they need. i passed a drug price transparency act and a prescription drug affordability board with bipartisan support. i also worked on prior authorization reform to shorten time and turn around times and make sure the care is not delayed for patients. spend more money on healthcare than any of our peer nation and we have the worst outcomes.

we're not doing something right. we need to have a big picture conversation. i worked on the margins on drug costs and expanding access to medicaid in minnesota for example. we need to have a big national conversation about where we want to go from here. we can't continue to do what we're doing now and getting the outcomes that we're getting. >> you have -- phillips who left to run for president in 2024. you are friend? >> we are, yes. >> this is hea told you anything about the job? what have you learned from him, if anything about how to go forth? >> he told me a lot about the job. we had parallel political experience because we both ran for office for the first time in 2018. i for the state legislature and he for congress. he has been a big source of health and support for me. the he has walked me through how this place works and pointed out people that i should reach out to in particular. i think he really enjoyed his

time here. i think there were some frustrations of course. all members of congress face some frustrations. he like i am is a really patriotic american and loves our couni ink we both want good things for all-americans. >> this week, tune in for c-sp new members of congress series where we talk with both republicans and democrats about their early lives, us careers, families and why they decided to run forice. watch new members of congress all weekning at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. here's a preview. >> after graduating, i worked in finance for several years, first as an virmt banker and then as an -- investment banker and then a hedge fund analyst. getting to experience the private sector. got to work long hours. got to see a little bit of what the real world is about. how our global financial system works.

what is the plumbing of the global economy. i think it provided a strong foundation not only for what i'm doing now but understanding how the world really works. >> the most formative experience of my life was serving as the caregiver to 2 person who would become my husband, andy, during his battle with cancer inform anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, particularly in your 20's as andy was, it is like a punch in the gut, unlike what anyone has ever experience pd. you never expect to hear that word at such a young age. from those mirs moments andy and i knew how lucky we were. to have health insurance that would allow him to get care that would help save his life and we had flex wbility our jobs to allow him to focus on a full time job trying to get better and me to focus on caring for him and loving him and eventually when he found out his

cancer was terminal, to walk him to his passing. when i decided to run for office, i do not believe in delaware or our neighbors in the united states, that time and ability to get care should be a matter of luck. i believe it should be the law of the land. >> in 2016, we lost my little brother luke to a fentanyl overdose, fentanyl here and shouldn't have been. we lost my little brother. he was 20 years old. it was tragic. i tell people it is like losing an arm and having to go through life without something that should be there that is not. that drove me to do this and to run for congress. that's why i'm here. >> tell us more about how you felt when that happened. >> yeah, it was -- the hardest part was the shock. the shock of like this is very unexpected. it hurt but having to see my mom and dad and what that did to them, losing a son, or daughter is very different than losing a

sibling. as a father now, i understand that. but you know, it is shocking and you have to figure out how to move forward and you can either -- you can either stop and just feel bad for yourself or you can do something about it. and i wanted to do something about it. >> all this week, watch c-span's new members of congress series where we speak with both republicans and democrats about their early lives, previous careers, families and why they decided to run for office. on wednesday at 9:30 p.m. eastern our interviews include you yeen vindman who was born in ukraine and played a role in the story of his brother alexander who came to national attention for his testimony on president trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i was an lieutenant colonel assigned to the white house. on the national security council

staff. the chief ethics official on the national security council staff. i worked right across the hall from my win the brother. -- twin brother. he had the portfolio, belarus, moldova -- he listened to the phone call. he heard the president's attempt at extortion and reported it directly to me. >> watch new members of congress all this week starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. c-span, democracy unfiltered. funded by these television companies and more including spark light. >> what is great internet? is it strong? is it fast? is it reliable? at sparklight, we know connection goes way beyond technology. from my