Base at pearl harbor. He is the first japanese leader to visit the site. Wednesday night at a dock, a review of house and Senate Hearings from 2016 on topics including the flint, michigan water crisis and the wells fargo on authorized account scandal. Seriously. You found out that one of your divisions had created 2 million fake accounts, had fired forsands of employees improper behavior, and had cheated thousands of euro customers, and you didnt even once consider firing her ahead of her retirement . 8 00 p. M. Y at eastern, we were member the political figures who passed away in 2016, including former first Lady Nancy Reagan and Supreme CourtJustice Antonin Scalia a. Friday night at 8 00, our in Memoriam Program continues with shimon peres, moment ali mohammed ali, and john glenn. This week in prime time on cspan. Coming up on cspan, the British Youth Parliament debates on the National Health service and lowering the voting age to 16 years old. Speakers on robotics and the tech industry. Dannerrnalist mark discusses his new book. We interview one of the new members of the congress. Representative elect vicente gonzalez, what did you do before you won this house seat . Rep. Elect gonzalez i practiced law for two decades in texas. I am also licensed in new york. I have been a lawyer for pretty much 20 years. Why did you decide to leave that profession and run for the house . Rep. Elect fernandez we have had a lot of successes and i intend to bring that same fight to washington to bring the necessary resources to our areas. South texas is one of the poorest areas in the country and in the state and it needs good representation. We are ready to go to work. Who or what from your past influenced you to take up the fights that youre talking about as a lawyer and now here in washington . Rep. Elect fernandez i was influenced by my family, my father. A korean war veteran. A selfmade businessman. When i was in law school, i spent time here as an intern with congressman ortiz from a south texas district, the 27th at the time. These were all positive influences in my life. What about that internship . Rep. Elect fernandez i was young and i had a lot of fun. I think that is what interns should keep in mind, enjoy themselves while they learn the legislative process. I was in law school at the time so it was a great complement to my Legal Education at the time. It was my first time in washington actually. 27 years that was a long time ago. It was a great experience. I always recommend that to young folks that want to learn about government. It is a great opportunity that is available. You were a high school dropout. How come . Rep. Elect fernandez i was not the perfect kid, that is for sure. Otherwise, that would not have normally happened. I went through tough times as a young man and learned a lot growing up. Sometimes, making wrong decisions. But education is always a very important part of the education that came from within my household. I went back to school and earned my ged and went to a Community College and worked very hard. I caught up and went into university and on to law school. It has been quite a trek. I was on my own practicing for 20 years and built a successful law practice. I think it is something to be said that you can always turn your life around when you would like and if you try and work hard at it. What were those lessons from the choices you made as a young man . Rep. Elect fernandez the most important lesson is that opportunity is always there if you want to, you try, and you work hard. No matter what mistakes you have made in life, you can always turn your life around by making the right decisions and making change. Why law school . Rep. Elect fernandez it is a way to help people in your community. It gives you a voice. And it gives a voice to people that are not heard. To me, i just always wanted to be a lawyer. When i went back to school even as a dropout, i always thought that if i can make it through, i want to be a lawyer, work hard and here we are today. How were you able to pay for law school . Rep. Elect fernandez that is a great question. I worked. I had a lot of parttime jobs. I indebted myself through student loans, grants and opportunities that were available at the time that i hope will be available for future generations. When i graduated from law school, i was deeply in debt. How much . Rep. Elect fernandez 110,000 20 years ago and that is still a lot of debt today. It was quite stressful at the time. I can always sympathize with young folks that are going through the same thing. I hope that those opportunities continue because it certainly opens doors and education i think is societys great equalizer. You said you wanted to be a lawyer because it was a way to help your community. What is it about your community that being a lawyer, you are able to help them . Rep. Elect fernandez it is one of the poorest areas in the country. Folks that do not have a voice cannot afford a lawyer. I have done a lot of pro bono work in my career. Even though we were successful, there was always a part of our law firm that took care of veterans coming back from iraq and afghanistan. Folks would come in pleading for help that had no money. Sometimes even Legal Resources and legal aid was overloaded. They could not take care of everyone. Did you have a person in your life that influenced you that impacted on your decision to run for the house . Rep. Elect fernandez i was impacted by a a lot of different people. I had many influential and him professors in college him and law school and the time that i served here with congressman ortiz and friends and relatives that positively influenced my life. Tell us about your family back in texas. Rep. Elect fernandez i lost my dad 11 years ago. My mother still lives in south texas and i have a sister. My mother is from monterrey, mexico so she emigrated to the United States 50 years ago. She is a great person. She will be here for my swearingin. Emotional times. How will you balance your work here with your life back home . Do you plan to live here in washington and if so, where . Rep. Elect fernandez we have an apartment nearby, my wife and i. We will be traveling back and forth and try to spend as much time in the district as possible to keep hearing peoples problems and understand what we need to work for. We dont want to lose touch of our community and its needs. Tell us about your wife and her influence on you. Rep. Elect fernandez well, she is a School Teacher and a principal. She is my rock. She has been a great asset inshe has been a great asset during my campaign and even here, she is sitting right back there. She is a very positive influence. Representative elect gonzales, we appreciate your time. Thank you for talking to cspan. Clicks june is tuesday, january 3, of the opening day of the new congress. Watch this swearingin of the house and senate, and the election of the speaker of the house. All the live coverage of the days event from capitol hill at 7 00 on cspan and cspan. Org, or listen on the cspan radio app. This week, washington journal, will devote the entire program is a key issues congress. We examine how they could change current trade laws in addition to create jobs. We discuss how energy and climate issues might be affected by the new congress and the Incoming Trump administration. How trumpe talk about and the new Congress Might immigration policy. We take a look at the future of , and howdable care act they will appeal repeal and replace the aca. Atch washington journal, 7 00 a. M. Eastern. More than 300 members of the u. K. Youth parliaments, ages 11 years old to 18 years old, gathered in the british house of commons for their annual Debate Health anduch as lowering the voting age to 16 years old. As a matter hour and half. [applause] thank you very much, you are a friendly bunch. In the previous years, the youth parliaments hasnt been friendly, but welcome. Welcome to the eighth sitting of the u. K. Youth parliament in the house of commons chamber. This marks the beginning of u. K. Parliament week, a program of events and activities which connects people with the United Kingdom parliament. Over 250, there are activities and events taking place across the u. K. By issues today were chosen the annual maker marked ballot. The British Youth Council reported that once again, the number of votes has increased with 978,216 young people