francis rooney: i never thought i would run for public office. i have been mostly in the foreign policy area, but i am so what has about happened to our country in the last eight years that when kirk lawson quite unexpectedly decided not to seek reelection, my wife and i talked about it and decided maybe i could do better there than the writing and criticizing of the president obama's policies that i've been trying to do effectively the

francis rooney representing florida. tell us what you were doing before you decided to run. mr. rooney: i never thought i would run for an elected office. i'm so concerned about what has happened to our country in the last eight years. to not seekded reelection, my wife and i talked about it and decided i could do better there than doing some of the writing and criticizing of the obamas -- obama administration's policies. reporter: when did you start your career? mr. rooney: most of my career in business, i built many businesses around the united states, latin america, many other parts of the world. we started small. back in 1980, ronald reagan became president and swept away a lot of oppressive regulations. i think we need that tax code now. submissions and diplomatic activities -- reporter: what was your work as an ambassador? mr. rooney: we were fighting a global world -- war on terror. the need to work constructively with muslims around the world, to bring it into consists of with modern day -- into consensus with modern day life. how do you think that background, your busin

francis rooney: i never thought i would run for public office. i have been mostly in the foreign policy area, but i am so what has about happened to our country in the last eight years that when kirk lawson quite unexpectedly decided not to seek reelection, my wife and i talked about it and decided maybe i could do better there than the writing and criticizing of the president obama's policies that i've been trying to do effectively the last eight years. >> when did you start your career and what were you doing? francis rooney: i have spent most of my career in business. i have built up many businesses around the united states and latin america and other parts of the world. we started small and fortunately back in the 1980's, a man named ronald reagan became president and swept away a lot of oppressive regulations and reformed the tax codes to stimulate investment. i think we need that right now. i have done government service during the george w. bush administration. submissions and diplomatic activities that culminated and -- with being the amb

francis rooney: thank you for having me on. have a nice day. announcer 2: joint is on tuesday for opening coverage of the new congress. theh the swearing-in at house and senate and the election of the speaker of the house. all-day live coverage of the events on capitol hill begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org, or you can listen to it on the freeseas and radio app. -- c-span radio app. announcer 1: we remember political people and journalists that died in 2016. ,his will look at nancy reagan antonin scalia, gwen eiffel, senator robert bennett, and more. we will show you nancy reagan's funeral and remarks from james baker. the cold war that president reagan did so much to and brought them together -- end brought them together. in 1950, the name nancy davis appeared on a list of communist sympathizers. with the hollywood blacklist or is no this was a different -- black blisters -- blacklisters no this was a different person? she went to the president of the screen actors guild, roger reagan. they met at a restaurant. the dinner wo

francis rooney: thank you for having me on. have a nice day. announcer 2: joint is on tuesday for opening coverage of the new congress. theh the swearing-in at house and senate and the election of the speaker of the house. all-day live coverage of the events on capitol hill begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org, or you can listen to it on the freeseas and radio app. -- c-span radio app. announcer 1: we remember political people and journalists that died in 2016. ,his will look at nancy reagan antonin scalia, gwen eiffel, senator robert bennett, and more. we will show you nancy reagan's funeral and remarks from james baker. the cold war that president reagan did so much to and brought them together -- end brought them together. in 1950, the name nancy davis appeared on a list of communist sympathizers. with the hollywood blacklist or is no this was a different -- black blisters -- blacklisters no this was a different person? she went to the president of the screen actors guild, roger reagan. they met at a restaurant. the dinner wo

francis rooney representing florida. tell us what you were doing before you decided to run. mr. rooney: i never thought i would run for an elected office. i'm so concerned about what has happened to our country in the last eight years. to not seekded reelection, my wife and i talked about it and decided i could do better there than doing some of the writing and criticizing of the obamas -- obama administration's policies. reporter: when did you start your career? mr. rooney: most of my career in business, i built many businesses around the united states, latin america, many other parts of the world. we started small. back in 1980, ronald reagan became president and swept away a lot of oppressive regulations. i think we need that tax code now. submissions and diplomatic activities -- reporter: what was your work as an ambassador? mr. rooney: we were fighting a global world -- war on terror. the need to work constructively with muslims around the world, to bring it into consists of with modern day -- into consensus with modern day life. how do you think that background, your busin

francis rooney representing florida. tell us what you were doing before you decided to run. mr. rooney: i never thought i would run for an elected office. i'm so concerned about what has happened to our country in the last eight years. to not seekded reelection, my wife and i talked about

reporter: francis rooney, thank you for us >> join us on tuesday for live coverage of the opening day of the new congress. watch the swearing in of the new and reelected members of the house and senate. our coverage of the events from capitol hill begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org, or you can listen on the free c-span radio app. few hours, aext look back at congressional hearings from the past year. first up is the flint michigan water problem. residents there have been living with lead tainted water for the past two years or more. the house oversight committee hears testimony from the governor of michigan and the head of the epa. here's congressman elijah cummings, the top democrat on that committee. cummings: there will now be an entire generation of children who suffer from brain damage, learning disability, and many other horrible effects of lead poisoning, that were inflicted on them by governor snyder's administration. there will be many children, mr. chairman, who will sit in the second and third grade, that will not be able to read the why, but won't know th