gillen, goldman,

no lipo, and sarah l frith. our code democrat sarah mcbride is an at-large member of the u.s. house representing the state of delaware. she was national press secretary for the human rights campaign before winning the seat. representative mcbride is also the first openly transgender member of congress. she talks about her career and getting started on capitol hill. >> my journey to serving the entirety of the great state of delaware really started being born and raised in delaware.

in so many ways, just getting here has been a journey of ups and downs, a journey that started in my own crisis of hope. i think for this congress, for our politics nationally, the biggest challenge we face is this country faces its own crisis of hope, rooted in the fear we no longer have the individual or collective capacity to meet the scope and scale of challenges we face, and we increasingly see a politics and congress that isn't rising to the occasion to deliver for people and is increasingly toxic and unwilling to have sometimes difficult conversations across disagreement. that's a challenge all of us in congress face. >> you used the word journey. i want to ask about your journey. viewers may or may not know you are the first openly trans vendor member of congress ever. tell us about your journey, first on the personal side.

tell us about your teen years growing into adulthood. tell us where you have been. >> i was born and raised in delaware. i actually lived three blocks from where i grew up. when i mentioned that crisis of hope earlier, it really was rooted in this fear that our politics couldn't work for someone like me, this fear that the heart of this country wasn't big enough to love someone like me. and that crisis, i went searching for solutions, for examples of our world becoming kinder, more just, more inclusive. i found a glimmer of hope as i stumbled across books about this building, about the united states capitol. i saw that the through line of every chapter was the story of advocates, advocates -- activists, and courageous officials working together to right the wrongs of our past. i found hope in those possibilities, hope and the

possibilities of our politics. i got involved at a young age in advocacy and politics, working for our former governor, our former attorney general. for me my decision to run for office was rooted in my own passion around health care policy and building our care infrastructure to support people through the inevitable challenges of life. the most formidable experience in my life was serving as caregiver to the person who would become my husband, andy, during his battle with cancer. for anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, particularly in your 20's as andy was, you know it is a punch in the gut unlike any you have experienced. you never expect to hear that word at such a young age. from those first moments after diagnosis, andy and i knew how lucky we were, how lucky andy was to get health insurance that

would allow him to get care that would hopefully save his life. we knew how lucky we were to have flexibility with our jobs that would allow him to focus on the job of getting better and me to focus on the job of caring for him, loving him, marrying him. and eventually when he found his cancer was terminal, to walk him to his passing. i decided to run for office because i do not believe that in delaware or the united states, in the wealthiest nation on the world, that the time and ability to get care should be luck. it should be the law of the land. >> i read you had an interest in politics very young as a child. was there a moment, person, or event where you said, this might be for me in the future? rep. mcbride: i didn't always know i wanted to run for office but i knew i wanted to be involved in politics. again, rooted in the crisis of hope i had as a young person, reading about the capitol and white house and seeing the history that provided a glimmer of hope.

i remember when i was 13 watching then-state senator barack obama deliver the keynote address at the democratic national convention in boston, 2004, and feeling inspiration in a way i had never felt, that i had only read about. really it was barack obama's rise and his campaign in 2007-2008 that showed me the politics of the past really could be the politics of the present. the politics of conquering seemingly impossible obstacles and widening the circle of opportunity and freedom to more people. rep. mcbride: in addition to the state senate in delaware, you are president of the student government at american university. what did those earlier experiences teach you in terms of policymaking and politics? rep. mcbride: the first thing i learned early on was you shouldn't ignore opportunities for change in front of you.

i was at american university here in d.c. a lot of my student peers were more interested in interning on the hill, and those are great experiences. we have some great interns in our office. a lot of times they ignored opportunities to foster change and take leadership opportunities right in front of them on campus. one of the things i took from that is you shouldn't always be distracted by the shiny, big object. you should look for opportunities in your own community to do good, make change, and lead. the second thing i think i have learned over the last 15 years is just how important grace and kindness are in our politics. i think for a lot of people, their grace and kindness has been abused, but the course correction is not to eliminate grace and kindness from our politics. it's to find the right balance between extending grace so long as people demonstrate growth. >> when you reflect on the time you came out during college,

what do you think of? rep. mcbride: i think about how scared i was. i think about how seemingly impossible the service of someone like me in these halls was. and i think about all the change i have had the privilege of bearing witness to over the last decade and how fragile that change and progress has been. i think we have been backsliding the last couple of years on many different issues that trouble me, but i remain hopeful. one, because of the change i witnessed that seemed almost impossible to me as a kid that it was almost incomprehensible to become a reality. but also the knowledge i saw in history books that progress is not always linear, it's often two steps forward and one step back. and the only way we lose is if we fall prey to cynicism and give up on our capacity to continue to deliver change.

>> how >> your colleagues -- how would you define your perception among your colleagues? rep. mcbride: 98% have been wonderful. >> president biden did write the forward to your memoir several years ago. describe your relationship with the president. rep. mcbride: everyone in delaware knows one another. you can't go to the grocery store or restaurant and not run into your representatives or even the president of the united states. we are a state of neighbors and joe has been my senator, my vice president, for a couple more days, our nations president. i got to know joe biden through the eyes of his son beau. i served as intern on his first campaign. in his reelect, his body person, his driver, volunteer coordinator, so i really got to know beau. he was truly good and decent, exactly behind-the-scenes what he seemed like in public.

and his love for his father was as deep and real as the public stories demonstrate and convey. i got to know joe biden through the eyes of beau . since beau 's passing, i have gotten to know the president more personally. he is someone with heart, someone who genuinely loves this country and the people he serves. i think that provides an example for all of us that in this time of increasing toxicity and partisanship in politics, that we have to recognize our fellow citizens are neighbors, not enemies, and that those of us who are in positions of public trust are here to serve everyone, whether they voted for us or not. we are here to love everyone, whether they voted for eyes or not. too often we see elected officials in politics unfortunately, particularly on

the other side of the aisle, say if you are part of a community, whether you live in a state or have an identity of a community that i presume voted against me, i will not help you, or even actively make your life worse. that needs to end in our politics. we need to come together, we need to serve everyone. >> how do you all come together? rep. mcbride: it's certainly difficult, and it's the fundamental question of our democracy right now. with bifurcated legacy media and individual social media that gives us content that reinforces our pre-existing positions, it's hard to have a national dialogue in our broader body politic. it's also hard to have that here, where the incentives sadly prefer and elevate outrage and division over collaboration. but i think fundamentally we all can do what we can do individually, and i am here as

part of a rising generation of new elected officials who say the politics of the last decade of division, of fear, of fear mongering, need to end. and we have big challenges. we need serious people in public office. we don't have to agree on everything. that's one of the things i love about my time in the delaware state senate, where nearly every bill i introduced past with bipartisan support. i have fundamental disagreements with republicans, but in a democracy we have to be willing to work across the aisle. i was proud to be the first freshman democrat to introduce a bill in this congress, and i'm proud that's bipartisan. >> which bill is that? rep. mcbride: legislation that ends the scamming of consumers by credit repair organizations who are charging significant upfront fees, in violation of the spirit of federal law, on empty promises of improvements

to people's credit. this removes the legal loopholes that allow credit repair organizations to do this so consumers are not scammed by these entities, that they get the services they pay for. >> as we wrap up and look ahead to your career here, what kind of mark would you like to leave? rep. mcbride: two things. one, i want to be part of a coalition that helps usher in a new type of politics. a politics of grace, not grandstanding, of progress, not pettiness. i want to help lower the temperature. i want to instill a spirit of collaboration. the second is i want to be part of a congress, and it's going to have to be a democratic congress , that finally modernizes care infrastructure by providing affordable childcare for every family and paid family and medical leave for every person. we have a 1950's care infrastructure and we are failing ourselves morally with that reality, but also

economically by not catching up with the rest of the world and modernizing our care infrastructure. >> republican jefferson shreve of indiana is one of more than 60 new members of the u.s. house. he has an mba in agribusiness and has served on the indianapolis city council. congressman shreve talks about starting, running, and selling a successful storage business. rep. shreve: you heard about that? the business was storage express, the company i started right out of college. i incorporated before i graduated my senior year at indiana university. i learned everything about business by taking a business from a building and growing it into a portfolio. it was wholly owned by me, up until the point i traded it into a great big public company. so i had that experience, a

small start up business to midsize regional operator, traded into a national company. i took a seat on their board of directors. i learned an extraordinary amount of business. but some of it is pretty simple. you've got to satisfy your customers, meet your payroll, cover your payments, and do all those things to stay in business. >> how does that experience and those lessons learned apply to someone entering congress? what will you bring to the program here? rep. shreve: some sensibility from a fiscal standpoint that i think is much needed in government. if you have a small person or a big business, you don't have a printing press in the basement like you have in congress. that sense of being grounded in the math, having to work the budget, having to work long term , is a perspective i'm going to bring to the team as we bring

together, and in turn to manage the debt crisis so many feel we are facing, to turn that trendline around. >> how do you consider yourself politically? how would you describe yourself? rep. shreve: i am part of the governing majority as a republican, and we have an opportunity going into the new congress with a governing majority in the house, senate, and administration, to get some things done that were not possible in the 118th congress. i know how frustrating that was for my predecessor and others in the last congress. i think we have the opportunity, even the exigency, with which we have got to govern and manage the fiscal affairs of our country in the 119th. i would describe myself as a fiscal conservative and my focus is going to be on the fiscal challenges facing our country. >> we talked about your business

career. when did politics enter your mind? rep. shreve: early on. actually i majored not in business but political science. i took an elective poly sigh course and i liked the subject matter. i had the opportunity to come to washington, d.c. as a young man, and i interned -- had the opportunity to intern for senator richard lugar, who is the longest serving senator in indiana's history. he started on the school board. he was mayor of indianapolis. then almost 30 years in the senate. and opportunities to watch, to work with, to learn from, and even enjoy a friendship with gentlemen like mr. lugar and governor daniels shaped who i am. that perspective, my view of the world, of america's role in the world, that hoosier humility, all of those elements play into

what makes me me. >> what's it been like navigating things on the hill so far? rep. shreve: i'm very early into this, this is week one. navigating is an experience i'm going to yet learn. i don't come out of a farm system of politics. my background is in business. i didn't serve in the general assembly. as my immediate predecessor said, he didn't either and that's not necessarily bad. you don't have to unlearn anything and you don't come in with expectations as to the way it worked at the indiana state house. because things are different out here. we will have a narrowly divided chamber, one seat to start. back home, the republicans enjoy a super majority in both chambers. so the stage is set pretty differently. >> what else did you learn from congress and from greg pentz? rep. shreve: plainspoken hoosier

communication skills with constituents back home. and i have had benefit of opportunities to learn from his brother too because they both represented the indiana sixth district for 20 years. >> mike pence. rep. shreve: mike pence represented the district even longer than greg pencec did and they have both been very helpful to me. although siblings, they are pretty different in lots of respects. >> tell us about your family and what they think about all this. rep. shreve: my family was out here with me for swearing in activities this past week. it's such an honor for me personally and for them to see and experience the history, the proud tradition of this place. it's a great honor and it's an

honor that i and everyone else coming in with me feels the challenge to live up to, to deliver, and to make our constituents proud. whether they voted for me or not , my aim is to make the people back home proud of the work that i will do here. >> one of more than 60 members of the u.s. house is democrat laura gillen of new york. she had a career as a commercial litigator and has served as town supervisor in hempstead, new york. rep. dent: if guillen talks about how she was able to flip the fourth congressional district in new york from republican to democrat. rep. gillen: we worked relentlessly, learned our lessons from the 2022 campaign, and had a longer runway to raise the resources we needed and made sure we had a really aggressive constituency and organizing program. we knocked on over 300,000 doors

and made sure we communicated my message to the voters and inspired them to vote for me. >> tell us more about your background, how you grew up, family, experiences. rep. gillen: i actually was born in the district, grew up in the district. did a little time here in d.c. when i went to georgetown for undergrad and my first year of law school, then move back to the district right before i had my second child and have been living there since. i have deep roots there, raising four children there, and very much in touch with the people who live there. >> did i read that before law school, you worked in thailand? what did you do there? rep. gillen: i was a dive master at a scuba school on an island. i spent some time there, worked there on my way to india. after i left there i went to india and lived in calcutta and worked for mother teresa. >> what brought you across the world to do that, the

motivation? rep. gillen: i had gone to visit a friend in hong kong the year before, a friend in high school who was a chinese language major and was living in hong kong for a while. i visited her, did a little traveling with her and her sister and got the travel bug and decided i was going to explore more of the world while i was single in my 20's and had the opportunity. but i did want to have a focal point for my travel, so i found a book called volunteer vacations and looked for different volunteer opportunities and found you could show up in calcutta. you want to work for mother teresa, you can. so that was the focal point of my trip. >> what did you do for mother teresa and what was the experience like? rep. gillen: i worked in her home for the dying. your tasks could be anything from cooking breakfast to cleaning up, bathing patients, feeding patients, providing comfort to the patients, doing

laundry, all kinds of tasks. when there are people willing to work, they give you something to do. you go there to give but you get so much more. one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. >> what did it mean to you? rep. gillen: you learn to be grateful for all the things we have here when you see people who are suffering and have so little. i believe all of us are responsible for giving back to our fellow human beings and that was one way i could do it in my 20's and this is the way i'm trying to do it now. >> in this country you were a commercial litigator for years. when did politics enter the picture? rep. gillen: i was a government major at georgetown and worked as an intern on capitol hill for a senator from louisiana. i always had an interest in politics but i thought it might be too much mudslinging for me. once i had settled back in the district and was living there and i saw a rampant corruption in our local government, it inspired me to get involved.

i couldn't complain if i wasn't willing to do something. that's -- what was your first seat in elected office and what was that like? quacks i was the first democrat to be elected town supervisor which sounds like a small but it's actually a really huge job. the largest township in america. i had 770 4000 residents, half $1 billion budget, roughly 3000 employees. so it was a very challenging situation. first democrat no one hundred 12 years. had to find a way to work together to get things done. quacks it was the perfect training to come down here in d.c.. i'm very focused on trying to get bipartisan results to deliver for my residence. listening

-- one child out of college, one child in college, two in high school. for my high school kids, college tics has been in the mix for most of their lives so they are used to it. everybody is used to it now. they are excited that i got here. it was disappointing in 22 so they are happy that i'm here now. we are settling into the new normal of me being in d.c. during the week. >> one of more than 60 new members of the u.s. house is craig goldman of texas. the republican has worked in real estate and spent more than a decade in the texas house of representatives. in congress, he now represents the 12 district in texas and talks here about filling a seat once held by some major figures in that state political history.

quacks it's a legendary seat in fort worth. to have jim right in the sea. peak aaron under president bush. kay granger. a living legend. she's the first republican woman to be elected to congress from texas. the first republican woman ever to be chair of appropriations here in the house. absolutely a legendary seat and tough shoes to fill. >> what did you learn from those experiences? >> well, the good thing is i've been able to speak to congressman granger and former congressman peak gary and a number of times about coming up here and what to expect. their advice and counsel has been just amazing, to be able to have. so it's nice that i can be able to go home and still able to talk to them about what to

expect or problems that they could help solve for me. >> you were born in fort worth. tell us what it was like to grow up there. tell us about your family. >> i'm a fifth generation negative -- native of texas. it's been fascinating to trace my family roots. my great great great grandfather moved there in the late 1800s to help build the original railroad from fort worth to el paso. we know this because there was an article written about him in 1910. ike ground ski. he was a character. so just really establishing groups -- roots and helping to build fort worth and texas. my family has been part of it for a number of generations. so with that kind of face, my family being there not only in texas but in fort worth, it has been instilled in me from the very beginning.

we are here to serve the community. in the end, all opportunities i've had to be able to give back to the community that i love so much, i've been able to do it. then got into politics about 12 years ago, 13 years ago. i've loved every second of representing southwest tarrant county and now western tarrant county in north or parker county. >> you are called political discussions at home? >> very much so. as we had jimmy carter's funeral today, i remember as a kid in 1976 presidential election. watching that on tv. at the dinner table on a small black and white tv. we watched that election during dinner. >> you did real estate for a while? before you ran for elected office. how long were you in that business? >> you never get out of that business technically. been in that for roughly 20 years. prior to that, my father and i

ran a family wine and food store. dennis -- been a small businessman my entire life. >> how does that inform you? >> i know the struggles of small business people. i know how to meet a payroll. what every single small business owner is going through every single day in this economy. i've gone through it with them. so having that experience and that knowledge, i hope to be helpful to small businesses across the united states. >> you spent a dozen years in the texas house. >> 12 exactly. >> what are you most proud of? >> the most thing i'm proud of is the molly james law. we passed it several sessions ago. it got sexual predators off the streets of texas. molly j matheson was a young girl in fort worth who was sexually assaulted, brutally murdered by a sexual predator. he committed the act three or four times prior to molly.

three days later, he committed the same act and murdered another girl. so we were able to get him off the street. one month after the bill was signed by governor abbott, they caught someone else and put him behind bars. so it's a bill that i'm most proud of. the most important legislation i've ever passed. i hope to pass it federally. it will be the first bill i introduced in the united states congress. >> did you always have your eye on a seat in the house? >> no. i'm a former staffer here. >> who did you work for? >> phil gramm. he sat next to me on the house floor when i got swarming the other day. >> remind your viewers about his legacy. >> first he was a congressman from texas. at the time he represented from brian station to the fort worth area. that's how big the districts were back then. not so much anymore. then he talked about -- i had a group here and we were on the

house for the other night. he talked about the time when he helped author the reagan budget plan as a democrat. tip o'neill bake is -- basically stripped him of everything and said, you won't matter here. senator graham ended up switching parties as one can do. he resigned his seat as a democrat, went back home to texas, ran in the same district that he served in but ran as a republican. asking the people texas -- of texas, do you want to have me? i will be a republican and not a democrat. >> what did you learn from him? >> everything. he's my second father. the advice and counsel he gave. as he famously says, he paid me $18,000 a year. my very first job. i had the pleasure of working in his mailroom. when i complained, he says, the education you've gotten, you should been paying me. he was absolutely correct. >> family? >> family.

eight nieces and nephews. two brothers. one sister. two parents still going strong. >> what did they think about all of this? >> they are on cloud nine. i told the story the other night. i came here with my father. my parents brought me up early on. my dad grew up a democrat congressman. i remember eating navy bean soup with him in the members restaurant. i look forward to doing as much as i can. anybody who comes up from the district who wants to spend time with me up here, i'm ready to spend time with them and show this place off the way i was treated as a kid. >> one of more than 60 new members of the u.s. house is democrat nelly pope of new jersey. she spent most of her career working for the city of patterson, new jersey and has served in that state's legislature. representative talks about entering the race for congress quickly after the sudden death of her predecessor bill pascal.

>> let me just say, it was a very quick election. it was actually a 64 day campaign. sadly, it was as a result of the passing of the late bill pascal who was our congressman and a beloved person to all of us, especially from where i come from, the city of patterson. so everyone who knew bill knew him because of his days of his beloved city. but it was indeed a very quick election. quick turnaround. >> of course, you knew him. what did you learn from him? what was your relationship like? >> all mine. there's so much to say about my relationship with bill in terms of the number of years that i've known him. he was our mayor. mayor of the city of patterson for so many -- for so long. he was also an assemblyman.

what bill actually decided to run for congress, he was both mayor and assemblyman. back then in new jersey, back in that time, we had dual elected officials for good dual officeholders as it was called. so when bill went to congress, i got the nomination to fill the unexpired seat for the assembly. ran, one that election. got elected. so bill and i literally are the directory in terms of our elected time in office. it stemmed from the same amount of time. we were both there for nearly three decades. like 28 years or so. so when he sadly passed on, i wanted to move into the possibility of being considered for the buck -- nomination for congress. >> you were born in patterson.

what was it like growing up there? what experiences do you remember most? >> patterson is truly one of, for me, my love. i lived in patterson practically all my life. i raise my children in patterson. i was born in patterson. most of my family are all from there. my parents actually came from puerto rico. they came separate. they didn't know each other actually. they met in new jersey. so patterson is certainly a place that i hold very close and dear to my heart. growing up as a young girl, i have wonderful memories. it was very different. it was very different. but truly a wonderful experience. i come from very humble upbringing. my parents, my father was a blue-collar worker. my mom was actually a seamstress

up until the time that she had, she and my dad, our family grew. my mom then became a full-time caretaker for all the children. i have two sisters and two brothers. >> when and how did you first get introduced to politics? >> at a very young age actually. i was doing volunteering for local campaigns. i volunteered. i actually started knocking on doors and doing community grassroot activities back then. during my years, i did that for a very long time. at a point when then later on i decided to consider putting my name out there for office holding. >> what is it about politics and public service? >> it's about wanting to do the

right thing. it's about wanting to make sure that you work for the people that you represent. it's about really trying to help and do all that you can as an office holder. for me, that's been the core of my success if i can say. it's part of what i've been accustomed to. it's part of how i grew all these years in politics. my constituents come first. their needs are one that i will do everything within my power to make sure that that gets well represented. >> you have a long experience in the new jersey state assembly. what do you bring to washington from those years of experience? >> i actually spent 14 years in the assembly. and then later 14 years in the senate. just prior to getting elected to go into congress, i served in the new jersey legislature for

28 years. so indeed it was an amazing learning, wonderful experience for me. it helped to develop my skills. i consider my years in office one that has certainly prepared me for this next app. having served as someone who has been in government for a long time, i feel as though it has helped me for what i am here for today. >> tell us more. >> indeed. as the first latina woman ever elected in the state of new jersey, to represent a congressional district, i'm truly proud. i'm truly proud not only of my route -- roots and where i come from but i'm also proud to be able to be a voice for those that really didn't have a voice.

so i'm happy to be able to represent. it also comes with a huge amount of responsibility. because i want to make sure that when you use your voice, you are using it to ensure that it's one that helps to create the opportunity for so many people. i do not just believe that any one person represents anyone group. i represent the entire new jersey ninth congressional district. but i am truly proud of my roots and my upbringing and being a latina, being puerto rican is something that i'm very proud of. >> during that campaign, you needed to do ads into languages. english and spanish. tell us what that means in terms of your community and folks who come from different backgrounds, speak different linkages. they can come together and understand each other. >> i have one of the most

diverse districts in the entire country. and i am proud of that. i'm extremely proud of my district. i'm proud of the fact that i represent so many people from so many different parts of the world. at the same time, i think it's important that we are able to communicate to everyone in the best possible way. communication is key. doing so is one that helps to ensure that your message not only gets across but that the people that you represent feel as though that we are indeed connecting to one another. so they need to be comfortable with me as i need to make sure that i'm able to make them feel that i'm the person that they can come to an feel as though i'm taking care of whatever they -- their concerns are. >> as we wrap up, tell us more about your family and what they think about this new phase of your life. >> my family is excited for me.

my husband was here for the swearing in. he wears his spouse pin very proudly i might add. i kid him all the time about that. but he's very happy for me. i have two amazing children and four grandchildren. so i am super proud of my family. they are truly my foundation, my rock. they are the ones that i am able to smile every day, knowing that i have someone, people back home who are not only proud of me but also have my back. >> sarah alpha of maryland is one of more than 60 new members of the u.s. house. the democrat is a graduate of townsend university of maryland and served as a student member on the board of regents for the state university system. representative elfreth served several years in the maryland senate and wanted 22%

primary for her new seat in congress. >> grew up in south jersey in a unit household. -- union household. my mother was a probation officer. those unions stepped up. my stepdad got hurt on the job. he was able to retire early, kept his benefits. it's important that i make sure that i am champion those issues. >> what took you to maryland? >> we had a deal in my family, you have to pay your way through school. i was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to townson university. i got involved in student government. got appointed to the board of regents for the university system of maryland. just fell in love with the idea of public service. >> what is it about politics and public service? >> it's easy for me. getting things done and helping people. that's what gets me up every morning and makes me fight so hard for my district. we are in a unique position where we have the ability 99% of the time to solve problems for people.

we have the ability to move the needle on policy in a way that unique to this job. >> you are 36 years old. you were elected to the senate in maryland in what year? >> 2018. sworn in and 19. at 30. the youngest woman ever elected to maryland senate which sounds great. i hope i'm not the last young woman. was mistaken for a page a couple of times there. i always joked, someone had to be the youngest. i had an incredible experience in the maryland senate. >> talk to us about that experience. what you learned, what you want to be remembered for. >> someone who can get things done. someone who can work across the aisle. i was able to pass 91 bills with bipartisan support in a chamber where we had super majority democrat. it was important to me. they gaveled in the session at noon and i went to hug my colleagues who i haven't seen since last session. mostly on the republican side. i am going to miss working with them.

i would like to be known as a problem solver. somebody who wants to be collaborative. >> now you represent the third district of maryland. remind us what part of the state that is and how it's different from other parts of the state. >> sure. newly redrawn. it used to be a lot more dispersed but now half of the county in annapolis going north. and then all of howard county including columbia and ellicott city. so it's the southwest of baltimore city. really unique district in terms of the natural world that we have, particularly in anne arundel county. also provides quite a bit of a risk and a threat in terms of sea level rise. which we have seen in annapolis. extreme flooding in the northern part of the district. it's an incredibly diverse district. historic district. one i very much love. >> talk to us about your continuing education about all these issues. how do you learn your way to be

an effective legislator? >> knowing that i can't be the expert on everything. i have to be an inch deep and a mile wide. i love policy. i'm a policy wonk. this is a different set of policies. i'm learning federal. spend a lot of time what -- with people who are smarter than i am. our wonderful staff in congress. spending time with folks in the district to our experts. i got lobbied on a social security change today. it's appreciating that i can't know everything but i know and i will learn who i can go to into i can trust to be fair actors who will give me the best advice possible. >> for the seat you currently occupy, you survived a 22% primary. >> they just kept coming. i love campaigning. win or lose, there's no better way to learn your community then being on the road, knocking on doors. it was an experience.

i've always had tough races and generals. i think it made me a stronger candidate. at the end of the day, it makes me a stronger member of congress. >> at the age of 36, what are you thinking long-term at this point? >> not getting lost in the tunnels right now. i have so much capacity. being in a nearby district, i drive in every morning. being able to be in my district as much as possible. be here in d.c.. it's a unique situation for a member of congress with so many of my colleagues having to fly. showing up for my constituents. doing my best to work across the aisle. again, just