but as a result of the information that congress discovered during the investigation, congress passed the national security act of 1947. and this act did a major reorganization of the military branches and in national intelligence. so it created a the first permanent intelligence agency and it also reorganized all the military services to be under one department of defense. just before the united states entered world war two, the senate created the special committee to investigate the national defense program. this committee was was created to oversee billions of dollars in appropriations that congress had just made for war preparation. this committee was led by senator harry truman and of missouri, and it investigated reports of fraud and inefficient c in war preparation. so the committee uncovered numerous instances of corruption and mismanagement and profiteering. it set a standard for congressional oversight operations and was widely praised for its effective work, saving billions of dollars of taxpayer money. it also made senator trun national figure. the truman committee's inves

so at any given time, congress can be investigating. for example, if a law is being implemented as it was intended to or the cause of a disaster. and and it gathers information and uses that information to create new laws. one of our goals for this exhibit was for americans to be able to get a better understanding of the things that happen here in the capitol, the things done by their representatives in congress. so because investigations are one of those things that congress does so regularly, we wanted to highlight that and we wanted to show historical examples of congress investigating so that so that visitors can use that example to better understand what's going on right here in this building in the capitol. so there are four main reasons why congress investigates. one is fact finding investigations can reveal the facts of things that happened and clarify what happened and why. another reason is oversight. so congressional investigations can reveal waste, fraud or corruption in government and can hold officials and agencies account

congress and only congress has the power to declare war even though the president may call for a declaration of war. and when the united states is involved in international agreements the senate is all important, for example the signature of our secretary of state to the united nations charter. had to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the senate. a clause in the constitution states that treaties are made by the president but only with the advice and consent of the senate. from the capital we went down pennsylvania avenue for a look at the white house. that's where the president lives. the white house represents the executive branch of the government. before he got through i could see why uncle jim said that the president has the biggest and toughest job in the world. yes, bill. the white house is both the home and office of the president. the president is chosen by the people through the electoral college. some of the presidents' duties are set by the constitution others are established by laws treaties president and public opinion. the president's main job is to take care of the law s

let's look at congress. our guest was elected to the house of representatives four years later, to the senate. and two years after

it's the congress that's that that authorizes the spending of not one dime can be spent unless congressppropriates the money for that activity. so congress has to have a role in foreign policy and in defense, and yet we've had president after president resisting congress's efforts to insert itself into decision making and to resist giving a full accounting and, being fully cooperative with oversight efforts. so you know that the iran-contra scandal and the investigations that followed were really a dramatic laying out of this conflict. and it's rare that public gets such a window into these machinations and these conflicts. did the public share the media's obsession with the iran contra affair? well, certainly for a while in the summer of 1987, i can just be personally, i was i was a college student and i had been been backpacking through europe and having, you know, pretty good time explore in a place i'd never been before. and i came back home in in june of 87, and these hearings were beginning. and i was like a lot of other people just wrapped, you know, with with these hearings and

but as a result of the information that congress discovered during the investigation, congress passed the national security act of 1947. and this act did a major reorganization of the military branches and in national intelligence. so it created a the first permanent intelligence agency and it also reorganized all the military services to be under one department of defense. just before the united states entered world war two, the senate created the special committee to investigate the national defense program. this committee was was created to oversee billions of dollars in appropriations that congress had just made for war preparation. this committee was led by senator harry truman and of missouri, and it investigated reports of fraud and inefficient c in war preparation. so the committee uncovered numerous instances of corruption and mismanagement and profiteering. it set a standard for congressional oversight operations and was widely praised for its effective work, saving billions of dollars of taxpayer money. it also made senator truman a national figure. the truman committee's i

host: will congress honor that request? guest: almost one year ago they requested $24 billion for disaster relief. congress has not done anything on that. . reiterating to congress that i made this request several months ago. there are additional needs. i think we will see action on that. it will be independent supplemental, part of a broader spending package, we will see congress take some of this in the past few months. host: the numbers, (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and pacific. if you are in a state impacted by national -- natural disasters that is (202) 748-8002. we will take those questions in a moment. with an update on how hard the state of florida has been hit, the republican of florida serves as the third district, thanks for giving us your time. guest: thanks. host: could you remind viewers, what is it cover? guest: i know people refer to it as the big bend area. from the florida georgia line down to ocala to about an hour north of orlando, jacksonville, a

congress get together.he president and the senate open the certificates and they proceed alphabetically state-by-state.. everything was smooth until the first state alphabetically there is a dispute when they get to florida, the votes had been for hayes. democrats immediately challenge this and democrats in congress challengers we don't believe this is legitimate. so the commission then meet to debate florida. when the commission meets both houses of congress adjourned temporarily. they go and wait on the commission will get together. effectively both sides o democrats and the republicans are allowed to representatives from congress to make their case. each case was allowed to lawyers.on we were at some of the famous names during these commission meetings? some of the biggest legal minds in the ninth sits at the time are arguing in front of this commission. so for example during the florida case lawyers on the democrat side included man charles o'connor jefferson davis' lawyer during davises trial for treas

the votes go to congress. and then congress is to count the votes. 12th amendment says that the president of the senate should open the certificates that come from the states and then, quote, the votes shall then be counted. but who who counts the votes? democrat controlled the house of representatives. they believed that they could basically swing the election to tilden by using a congressional rule that was known as the two second joint rule. and what that meant effectively is that what the 22nd joint rule said was anybody could challenge any electoral vote for any reason. if somebody raised a challenge in either the house or senate, the house and senate would separate it. they would vote on the challenge without debate and if the house or senate upheld the challenge, then the vote was thrown out. democrats claim that they could use this rule to challenge any vote they wanted. republicans said the rule was no longer, in effect, that this was not constitutional. instead, republicans said, actually, it's the vice president of the united states. the v

still the democrats retained congress. have you got any explanation for that? >> i suppose if i had the explanation i would be political expert, unequaled in the history in the country. we are all been trying to find out why that happened. i think perhaps it may be due to first thee change in voter habs in the country, are people now voting for men and for candidates rather than party. they were highly selective. go down the line and vote for a republican for president, democrat for governor and republican for the house and democrat, for example, for city council and the like. and so i think that l the best answer as far as those of white house are republicans are concerned and advice to democratic friends, better organizations and better candidates. i found that when we had top organization and top candidates that generally speaking we won and then, of course, i would add to that as far as the republicans are concerned that the -- those candidates who have good organizations and who are good candidates should also be supporting actively and articulately the ei

let's look at congress. our guest was elected to the house of representatives four years later, to the senate. and two years after that, vice president of the united states. he has had a

majority of congress, both in the senate and the house will approve it. what about the curbs that are being suggested on this and by powers? will they be likely to be of such a character as to tie his hands in a way that the program will be robbed of its effectiveness, do you think? it's very difficult to say at this time what curbs are eventually going to be passed, if any, by the congress. i will only say this, that to place too many restrictions on the president's power would, of course, mean that the proposal would lose the very effect that it was intended to have. and we certainly hope that the congress will give very serious consideration to any proposed curbs before adopting them. i might say, incidentally, that another feature that i think we should mention is the economic program, which is part of the president's proposal. i think we've all noted that some opposition has arisen to those economic. i think in this field we should recognize that the two the two parts of the proposals must go together. on the one hand, these countries must be, if the

caller: yes, i will be voting for dollop norcross for congress. -- donald norcross for congress. it's important that america should vote for democrats because look at what the republicans have done in congress this year. they have ousted their own speaker and tried to do it again and the democrats had to save them. the problem is that the republicans refuse to govern. and it's not about solving problems, it's about controlling the narrative and not getting anything done. i guarantee if hakeem jeffries was the speaker of the house, we wouldn't -- we would be getting things done. we would not be having a coup to try to oust our own speaker, hoping that the republicans would bail us out. but that's the bottom line. these democrats are the adults in the room and this congress has probably been rated the worst congress in history because of their lack of governing. they control the purse strings and refuse to govern. so it's important that we get a democratic congress back in the house. host: that was cornell in new jersey. this in this morning's new york times. the article talking ab

there was in the last congress. may i say also that all of us who are interested in this because of appreciated leadership you have given in the house of representatives where the bill was passed in the last session. i think first you will agree with me the civil rights proposal the president will again pass in this session and i think now in the senate the climate is much better than it was two years ago and even a year ago, passage of substantial portion of the program this year. i think the chances are good. difficult to say that they are sure. this past week we've had the president's budget message. when that was read to us in the house, the chairman of the appropriations committee who is of course a democrat got up immediately "after words" and made a speech about cutting down on spending, saying that the budget figures were too high and we should reduce. do you have any comment on that or the budget or the attack on it as being too large on the part of the democratic side? >> i may say we are all interested in

it is true that congress used that langue t that is congress's definition of the term. that would be limited t operational weapons. so congress had a really good reason to use the language ther >> moving on to b. >> congress didn't define the term which means it carries the plain and oy meaning and a noun like frame or receiver includes object that are complete but are missing a few holes that need to be drilled. >> we can't think that every noun that congress uses and every word in the u.s. code is used as a noun that cares with it things like justi alito's pen and pencil as a grocery list, right? so there's got to be a line that mas is on your theory, the case, why we should re that into b here but not everywhere in the u.s. code. >> right.your thoughts? so i want to be very clear that we think that this is a mte of ordinary meaning that you don't need it to be 100% complete. d at runs across the board. missing pedals, you would stills recognize what that is. >> yeah, but i i'm not inclined to tnk that every noun is used in that wa in the u.s. code. iean, that would b

it's not going to matter who congress is. it's not going to matter who we vote for in the senate or the house. if you allow trump to get in the office this time and if you give the senate and the house to the republicans, you are going to lose this country. we are going to lose our democracy. host: jim, let's talk about your vote in congress. who is your current member of congress and did you vote to reelect them? caller: i will be voting straight, down the ticket, for that very reason. i do not want putin to run this country. i changed from democrat to independent for other reasons. this time, our country is on the line. this democracy is on the line. if you care about this democracy, you will vote to keep putin from running this country. host: marcia in florida on the republican line. good morning, marcia. caller: hi there, first off, that's ridiculous. putin, that's just ridiculous. the thing that gets me, i will be voting straight republican. but the lies -- everything they keep saying about abortion. host: i'm going to s

twenty years i was in congress, the money congress has the ability to move, 53 and 83% for intelligence and homeland security. it was for all intents purpose, the committee and this is a little unknown fact armed service committee will putting in the authorization act for 60 plus years. >> we only keep one bill a year end pay the bills and therefore we are the committee will replace everything from the military and that, everything. okay medicine and how much we fortify them so we are going to promote. everything you can imagine would have everything in it is passed in that one bill and for 65 years, is the only belt every year has been passed. >> little different the bills from passing and they are probably lastly as you probably heard of the we know the republican leadership wealth present time is dealing with that, they will figure that out. they are going to say there are the ones and cable-television like that but it is terribly challenging. >> that is a bill passed annually to scientists measures defense activities in the bill that this year has close to the middle and the extreme

congress. the purpose of congress also looks of it will different in light of the constitution's emphasis on unity. congress is really at the center of the constitutional system for good and bad. in a republican government the legislative authority necessarily predominates. republican government is representative government. although the presidency, and to some extent the courts are also accountable to the people, it is only congress that is designed to be representative of them. congress is of course the absolutely essential institution in the constitution's vision of unity. by representing our plurality, our national legislature can allow for negotiations among the key factions that compose that plurality. this is first and foremost a way in which the constitution envisions americans acting together even when we don't think alike, by negotiating broadly acceptable courses of action. in some ways that is the essence of our national politics, the primary way in which the constitution seeks to a

trump care about congress. he couldn't get things through congress. congress is so divided between republicans and democrats, it's very easy to block things so as no surprise, anyone here congress is dysfunctional and trump that. and so in order to get things done, trump just started acting by using executive orders to get what do you want it done? and when you use executive, the only person who matters is donald trump. he wouldn't let his agencies do anything. he wouldn't let his cabinet officials do anything. he did everything on his own, which means that the thousands or tens of thousands of lobbies in dc were all of a sudden irrelevant because only trump mattered. the machine kind of ground a halt, right? i think if congress doesn't matter, then lobbying congress is is useless. yeah. so what did matter, though, was knowing trump and trump was such an outside order when he came to dc, the nominee in dc knew him. there's a handful of people who had worked on his campaign or raise money for him, who became a top lobbyist. and one of them was a guy na

it's a -- coalitions in congress.t's a missing piece of the constitution and has worked very well for us for most of american history. and in a lot of ways, was the brain child of martin van buren. the challenge we face today has a lot to do with the fact that the system was such a good fit for the constitution that the progressives who got tired of the constitution also got tired of the party system. and for the same reason, because it's just about coalition building. it's not about clear, decisive policy actions. and woodrow wilson and others over the -- from the end of the 19th century through the 20th century, came to the view that the party system needed to be much more responsive and accountable to policy agendas. and so in a sense, our parties should bee much more ideologica. and through various mechanisms, have made our party system more ideological but also much more polarized and much less of a perfect fit for the constitutional system. our parties as institutions of candidate selection are now very, very we

let's look at congress. our guest was elected to the house of representatives four years later, to the senate. and two years after that, vice president of the united states. he has had a meteoric rise in government unmatched by anyone in recent history. he's known today is probably the most active vice president in the entire history of our country. it's an honor and privilege to welcome to the program. the vice president, the united states. --, it's fine to have you here to talk to the people in new york. well, thank you very much, ken. i'm always delighted to appear on your program. this is an annual event on my calendars. you know. i want to ask you first about the progress of president's program in congress. are you satisfied with the way it's going? well, i couldn't say that i am satisfied with the progress. of course, we have to have in mind that this is an election year and that the president has a democratic and considering those factors, considerable progress has been made in the foreign field, in t

it is true that congress used thatanage but that is congress's definition of the term. that would be limedo operational weapons. so congress had a reall good reason to use the language there. >> moving on to b. >> congress didn't define the termhi means it carries the plain andrdinary meaning and a noun like frame or receiver includes object that are complete but are missing a few holes that need to be drilled. >> we can't think that every noun that congress uses and every word in the u.s. code is us as a noun that cares with it things likeusce alito's pen and pencil as a gce list, right? so there's got to a line that kes this on your theory, the case, why we shod ad that into b here but not everywhere in the u.s. code. what are your thougs? >> right. so i want to be very clear that we think that this isatter of ordinary meaning at you don't need it to 100% complete. and that runs across the b i mentioned a bicycle but it was missing pedals, you would still recognize what that is. >> yeah,f i'm not inclined to think that every noun is used in tt y in the u.s. code. i me

he didn't care about congress. he couldn't get things to congress. congress is so divided it's very easy to block things. no surprise to anyone here, congress is dysfunctional. and trump saw that. in order to get things done trump started acting by using executive orders to get what he wanted them. when you use executive orders the only person that matters is donald trump. he would let his agencies do anything. he did everything on his own. which means, the thousands or tens of thousands of lobbyists in d.c. were suddenly irrelevant because only trump mattered. >> the machine ground to a halt. >> if congress doesn't matter the lobbying congress is useless. what did matter though was knowing trump. and trump was such an outsider when he came to d.c., not many people in d.c. knew him. with a handful of people who worked on his campaign or raised money for him became the top lobbyists. one of them was brian ballard who is a fundraiser for trump and worked in his campaign in florida. when trump won he moved from tallahassee to d.c.. in just four years as

congress for nearly 20 years. he served in the house democratic leadership for six years first as vice chair that as chairman of the caucus. he's a a graduate of queens college and serve in the new york state assembly from 1987-1998. welcome. to his left is congresswoman loretta sanchez who represents parts of california central orange county from 1997-9017. a self-described moderate democrat she received her undergraduate degree in economics from chapman college and mba from american university. she has described herself as going up asas a quote shy, quiet girl, which is a little surprising, even with the visit i had with you but that's okay. you did not speak english and quite sick of it with much of her success in public life. and last but not least with congressman ryan costello who served as republican in congress when representing pennsylvania's sixth congressional district from 2015-2019. prior to his time in congress he served on the chester county board of commissioners from 2011-2015 and graduated from v

, the democrats retain congress.ave you got any explanation for that? >> i suppose if i the real explanation i be a political expert we've all been trying to find out why that happened. i think perhaps the change in voter habits in the country. our people are voting for men and candidates rather than for parties. they were highly selective they would go down the line vote for republican for president or a democrat for governor and then a republican for the house and a democrat for example for cityn council. and so i think the best answer as far as both of us were republicanss are concerned good advice or democratic friends as this. better organization and better candidates. i have found thatt where we had top organization and top candidatesan generally speakinge won. then of course i would add to that as far as the republicans are concerned have good organizations should also be supporting actively and articulately the eisenhower philosophy which the republican party.es >> of time for one short question we start off

i ran for congress to solve problems for the people. i've joined the problem solvers caucus and fought to lower overall cost and make sure -- four months since taking office, i was one of two republicans and two democrats who found the common blueprint to keep the government open after only four months in congress. i've done that on many issues and on domestic and foreign policy -- we need people who will focus on finding common ground. laura: we're going back to our panel over to joey fox for his next round of questions. joey? joey: congressman, you alone among new jersey's members of congress don't talk to reporters in the halls of the capitol and you turned down a request for an intri from me on your positions and beliefs. why is that? rep. kean: i respect the press. when we look -- had seven town halls, we've reached thousands of constituents. we go to where the constituents want to meet with us, whether the senior town halls or citizens, a school and veteran town halls. but i also have a policy and you know this, joey, from when we

absolutely congress should be involved in the space. for far too long we have not had the conversation because this is not a partisan issue. i love to talk about this space. that's why when i got to congress, i made sure i was working across the aisle with the bipartisan climate crisis. we talk about the abundance of energy we have in the united states so we are not reliant on russia and china. we want to make sure we are talking about clean and affordable energy. as a mom, we worry about those things. my opponent just mention her and her family had to flee where you feel unsafe and you are concerned with that. what about women who are pregnant? we have to mitigate wildfire management and make sure we are paying attention to that. clean, affordable, safe, healthy , that's what we have to be focused on. >> you will get another minute to address that. janelle bynum. >> what struck me about my opponents answer was that she talked about protecting pregnant women. and when pregnant women have to flee a wildfire and potentially go to a state

t trump didn't care about congress, congress is so divided, no surprise to anyone here that congress is dysfunctional. trump saw that. trump started acting by indicative-- executive orders. he wouldn't let his angels he's do anything, his cabinet officials. he did everything on his own. which means that the thousands or tens of thousands of lobbyist were irrelevant. only trump mattered. >> the machine kind of ground to a halt. >> lobbying congress is useless. what did matter was knowing trump. and trump was such an outsider. there was a handful of people who worked on his campaign or raised money for him be who became top lobbyists. one of them was brian ballard, who was a fundraiser for trump and worked on a campaign in florida. and when trump one, he moved from tallahassee to d.c. in just four years as a lobbyist, he earned $100 million. which is more than anyone has ec made in that period of time. simply because if companies want to get the trump, brian ballard is your guy. >> it created the spoon. >> right, people in washington know there is influence and appearance of influence.

i ran for congress to solve problems for the people. i've joined the problem solvers caucus and fought to make sure we lower overall costs and in four months of me taking office i was one of two republicans and two democrats, who found the common blueprint to keep the government open after only four months as -- in congress. i've done that on many issues and on domestic and foreign policy. focus on finding common ground. >> okay. we're going to go back to our panel and over to joey fox for his next round of questions. >> congressman, you alone, among new jersey's members of congress, don't talk to reporters in the halls of the capitol and turned down a request for an interview from me, an in depth interview on your positions and beliefs. why is that? >> as i -- i respect the press. when we look at-- i've had seven town halls to reach thousands of constituents, we go where the constituents want to meet with us and whether the senior town halls or at schools and veterans town halls. but i also have a policy and you know this joey from whe

this is what congress is for. i was born here in modesto, i raise my family here in modesto, i built a business here in modesto. here in the central valley. since i've become your congressman, after knocking on 4000 doors, getting to know you, going down and sitting in your city halls, talking to you as mayors, talking to your mayors and city councils, i've understood my first line to any new representative i meet as their congressman is, think of me please as a waiter. i'm here to help you improve your community by getting in whatever i can get you from the federal government to do that. we've been delivering a dispatch center with $3.5 million here to modesto. we worked on the high intensity drug trafficking area bill to get 309 million dollars into the central valley and other high intensity drug trafficking areas. i've got many democrat, republican and independent endorsements. we don't talk that much about being republicans, independent or democrats. talk about sidewalks, roads, the problems with not having w

as far as congress, biden can overstep congress. he overstepped everything else. the first day in office, he did away with everything trump had in place. he has continued to do that, and to lay on the beach. i am 80 years old. i have lived in florida all my life. and i have never went through what these people are going through. but i have seen trump up there trying to help. i have seen biden and kamala out campaigning or laying on the beach. guest: i do not have a comment. host: we will go on to josephine in new jersey. good morning, josephine. caller: good morning. we are assuming we are the only country in the world experiencing what we are experiencing. that is why i like to listen to the news from around the world. europe is experiencing floods like we are, number one. number two, the mountain areas are getting snow like never before. you know what they do differently? they accept science. how unique of them. and they are preparing themselves for this kind of situation. we, on the other hand, are choosing to ignore science. one former president was in georgia

will you support mass deportations in congress, mr. kean, and how should we cover these costs and what will not get done so that mass deportations can be prioritized? rep. kean: over the course in the last 3 1/2 years, 10 million undocumented and unvetted individuals -- and these are individuals that come from a host of countries. in fact, 60% of this problem would be solved if they remain in mexico policy were back in place, able to have individuals stop in the country where they first arrive. there are people from 194 countries that have come in through an unsecure southern border and the northern border and we need to make sure that those individuals who are criminals and have -- should be deported. that's where you need to start. my opponent has an extreme position in this regard. she supports -- joe biden right now on the policy of the border. she supports illegal unvetted people coming across unchecked. that is clear, she said here tonight. we need to be sure we have people who are leaders to find common ground, secure the southe

that's automatically growing even if congress never does anything. so now the issue is you got a long-term budget problem on top of a short-term one of congress being profitable year after year. that's the box basically the box were in. very simple to explain politically it creates a problem. i'll go quickly to the last slighted because what to get your questions and answers. this is a measure at come up with which i call measure of fiscal democracy because i think it does affect democracy. this is the ship of revenue left or the share of receipts left after you take into account the spending authority in the law adequate revenues come how much of revenues are left after you take into account all the automatic spending. if you notice it was never negative in the past. usually about 6% of receipts have not been committed. now, you probably still would've committed them to continue the highways or whatever but there were not permanently committed. today, as you look out onto the right-hand side, everything, every dollar received is committed before eac

they sent those rules to congress congress codified them into law they became the law that govern neutrality into the end of the 19th century. in doing so congress said to washington basic that they did not stated so many words but said a well done handling the situation. thank you for taking the initiative we approve of your rules, carry on. at established awh precedent whn there's a crisis like this that thepresident was a person to ac. recall from france which was approved now's a very important the first time the united states had ever done so. it established the precedent the united states with a sovereign nation but had the right to establish its own foreign policy and to demand the foreign policy be at least one actors on american soil. interestingly once his recall was passed washington did not make him leave because he knew if he left to immediately be executed during his reign of terror he left the rest of his days as a private citizen may no more trouble. once he was recalled officially he was quiet. so washington establishes the precedent the president is going to be the dominant

congress isn't yet over. you will probably see -- there has been a flurry of other tax-specific bills. i think it was jimmy gomez from california who introduced the first-time homebuyer tax credit. you will see a number of bills, pet projects is probably the wrong word, but specific bills that members care about that they will try to attach to anything that moves next year. aaron: and i second what mike says. there's two bills that he mentioned, they've both been featured in the president's budgets in recent years, and i think just given the overwhelming support that they have, if you are forecasting and looking ahead, would have the best chance of passage. one thing i would add to what mike said is you are seeing some standalone bills looking at regulatory reforms that have been proposed. there is the fetterman bill, a few others. i think one could potentially see there being a package, the two bills that mike mentioned, plus some other regulatory relief to ensure that the homes that get funded through the b

and i'll continue that work throughout the 119th congress >> -- congress. >> representative bynum.imilar question for you if elected. how do you plan to bridge the urban, rural or east and west divide to represent all constituents? >> well, i'm a firm believer in town halls. and as i was driving here today, i was thinking laurie chavez, she came to my first town hall, sat in the back with her husband and daughter, hired a heckler to sit up front. i taught her how to do town halls. i'll continue to do town halls. i'm well known for doing my taco town hall where you bring the tacos and i come and we talk about whatever issue is on your mind and your heart, whatever group wants to host event. i do walking town halls. i've done them at the high school. i've done them at the mall. i've been a person that has always been known to be accessible, to be open and to make sure that even if you and i agree on things or disagree on things that i'm open to new ideas. i think what is really challenging about this district is that there is a mountain that separates us, but through conversation, th