Time as well. I want to begin as the freshman republican president. You you expect this funding issue to be a contentious debate . Do you foresee any possibility that dhs funding could be forestalled. I think it will be a contentious debate. I think what the president did was poorly designed. The republicans in both the house and the senate will react to it. Whether it in setup in some sort of Agency Shutdown down as opposed to government shutdown, i help not. I hope we can work through the issue and make sure we can be find defund the parts of the executive order that the present has issued. And move on, and make sure the other functions of the government are funded, the transition as smooth. The issue really is immigration. He expect both sides to come together on an immigration bill that would resend the executive order . That would be my hope. Im not sure that that will happen in the next couple of mmonths. It is my hope that congress will pass a Guest Worker Program beef , up Border Security, and move forward in immigration in a way that the American People are satisfied that we have engaged in a thoughtful process and produced a thoughtful product. Two congressional reporters joining us for questioning. The Washington Examiner. Hi. As an incoming freshmen in congress, how much impact you think you can make . Why do you think your fellow congressman elect elected you as class president s . You have to stop asking me to questions at once i can never remember the second question. How much influence do i think i will have as a freshman . Yes. I have been amazed at how open leadership and others have been in congress to the thoughts, and plans, that the incoming freshmen have. I say that because i think folks who have been there in washington, d. C. For while fear is whether what the freshmen have heard. Weve been on the campaign trail and interacting with the public. Weve heard the concerns most recently and in an unvarnished way. As a result of that, there is a lot of input from the freshmen members of congress. I think that gives us more than just the one vote of influence. I have been very happy with the process of choosing committees and meeting the chairs the committees and talking to them about future legislature. Why do you think your fellow republican colleagues elected you as a representative . As class president . It concerns me frankly about their judgment. Probably no one else wanted the job, so they are willing to give it a go. Did you run for the position . I did. Yes. Were you challenged . There may have been challenges beforehand. There was nobody at the time when german mcmorris, Cathy Mcmorris rodgers ran the , meeting. I have contacted all the other freshmen and talk to them about my desire and plans. At that point, nobody stood up. I dont know if anybody else was interested. At that point, nobody else stood up. Lets turn to emma. As the president of your freshman class you are , representing a new class coming in that has some diversity concerning that the Republican Party is trying to expand to include women, men and women of color all of this is happening while the third ranking republican in the house is under some scrutiny for meeting with a White Supremacist Organization in 2002. Are you concerned about the optics of that, the mixed messaging of wanting to create a big tent and the possibility of seeing a member in leadership being involved in activities in the past that theyve run counter to that . Look, i think Steve Scalise is a great man. He has demonstrated over and over again that he is open to all americans who believe in strengthening this country. He has apologized for what happened. I think it was years ago. He has demonstrated through his legislative career that that is not who he is. I think the Republican Party will continue to be a party that welcomes all americans who was a Strong America both economically and as a world leader. He was a member of the state legislature in louisiana. He did vote against mlk holiday. Was that a mistake . You will have to ask steve if that was a mistake. It is not something i think the American People will focus on. We at 18 trillion in debt. We have 100 trillion dollars of unfunded liabilities. The American People send us to washington, d. C. To solve problems. I do not think the issue involving Steve Scalise will be an issue after we get sworn in on january 6. I think we will roll up our sleeves and get to work and produce legislation and that is what the American People will be focused on. M a. Thank you. Emma. Thank you. Congressman, i want to go back to what youre saying about immigration reform, and the possibility passing different pieces doing a piecemill approach. What can congress due to address the undocumented immigrants living in this country . Something that would have the effect of legalizing undocumented immigrants, without having to rely on the president s executive order to a congress that goal. I think the key is to deal with the immigration issue in a different way. I think we need to focus first on a Guest Worker Program. I think we need to focus on Border Security. Once we have fixed the immigration issue, or once we have dealt with the problems that exist today in the law and the enforcement in the law, then we can start to address what do we do with the folks who either came into this country illegally, or have overstayed their visas. I think if we reverse the order we are going to be dealing with an emotional situation, and a situation of trust with the American People. This president has not earned the trust of republicans or the American People on immigration. He has failed to enforce laws in so many areas. In order to have a workable immigration system, we have to enforce the laws. We have to ensure that people coming into this country understand that we do respect the law and that we will enforce the law. Once we do that, i think the issue of what to do with the folks who are here illegally is much less emotional. We can have a rational discussion on the subject. If we do exactly what you outline, what you personally think we should do with those here in this country . If we do Everything Else you just said we should be doing . I would be glad to answer that and have a discussion about that once we accomplish that. As i said, i think people are suspicious that were trying to create an amnesty program, and we passed laws about Border Security but we never really , secure the border. I am not going to address the issue of the people who are in this country illegally until we have a system in place that gives the American Peoples American People certainty in immigration area. Congressman elect, you have been a long Time Favorite of tea party activists. This is a movement that has pressed republican lawmakers not to compromise. What is your view on this . Do you think it is okay for republicans, conservative republicans, to compromise with democrats on major issues . I think it is i think compromise as part of the legislature process. We need to compromise within the Republican Party, Work Together to achieve goals, and make sure we are working with democrats to achieve goals in overall legislation. Where i will not compromise is on the fiscal issues that have dragged this country down. Im very concerned about our national debt. Im very concerned about the sense that the federal government can solve all problems. Im going to washington, d. C. To reduce the size and scope of the federal government. So the role of the federal government is as intended in our constitution, and in the framework of our government. In that sense, i will not compromise my core values. Im absolutely willing to work with others on crafting legislation that make sure that we have an immigration system that works, a way to protect her our countries interest our countrys interest overseas, that we have a Monetary System is effective. On and on, and think we have to Work Together. But, we cannot keep throwing money at problems, and hope that those problems get better. You may have heard a message from Tea Party Groups that ive heard. Theyve never told me, ken, goat go there and do not work with other people. Your republican leader in the senate said that the u. S. Will not default on the debt. One of the big issues that you will ffaith in february march will be whether or not to increase the debt limit. I think we have to make substantial progress on balancing the budget. If we do that, i will take a serious look at voting to increase the debt limit. I am not at all i do not believe that the consequences of failing to raise the debt limit are what the president and some others in the United States congress have said. I think we have a lot of room to cut our spending. If we do that, we will in fact avoid the catastrophic consequences that others talk about. Do support the socalled dollar to dollar cuts for spending increases . I think that is a minimum threshold that we have to meet. And real cuts, not cuts that happened 10 years from now or 15 years from now that another congress will inevitably change. I think we have to have cuts that happen now, and they will unfortunately hurt. But, the pain is caused by a history of irresponsible spending in the United States, and by the United States government if not, could we face the possibility of default . I hope that we do not. I hope that congress and the president act responsibly, and balance our budget, or at least moved substantially in that direction. Emma. I want to ask you about compromise and bipartisanship we understand youve been selected to be part of the Reform Committee the committee that has been very partisan, and did not work particularly work well with his democratic counterpart. There was a sense that in the 114th congress coming in that the new chairman would want to take a different approach. Are you familiar with the collaborative approach that he wants to take . Or did you appreciate the very confrontational nature of the tenure . His tenure . Would you like something more combative along those lines against the Obama Administration . I have had not had a chance to talk to him about his plans. I can say that i think a combative role is not effective. The legislative branch will perform certain oversight functions. Those are regarding the executive branch. It is essential. Along with the media, it keeps the executive branch from becoming a monarchy. From becoming a form of government that we dont want to live with here in this country. It performs a very important function. I would imagine that eight or 10 years ago, when congress was dealing with president bush, there was also some tension that existed between oversight functions in the house and senate and the bush demonstration. I think those are natural tensions. As much possible we have to keep those on a professional level and not make it personal. The use of this president and his executive order, and other regulatory issues that are going on, i think our very important for congress to look into. Speaking of these tensions with the wise white house, you have certainly not been shied to criticize the Obama Administration. Even tweeting out recently saying that you lost your appetite after seeing the president walk into a pizza place where you were eating at. Now that republicans controlled both houses of congress do you think it is possible that congress can have a working relationship with the president . Or do you see another couple of years of gridlock . I absolute think we will work closely with the president and the democrats in congress. I want to clarify something. You mentioned that i tweeted out that i lost my appetite when i saw the president. I did not tweet that at all. I was sitting eating pizza, and we observed black suv after black suv,. The secret service closed down a restaurant. There were 35 secret Service Agents there and police officers. This was also the president could have a photo opportunity at a pizza place with a group of hispanic students before the game his speech on his executive order on immigration. I find that offensive. Im not suggesting that this president is the first to do that. Wasting taxpayer dollars has a long history in this country particularly with the executive branch. I find it offensive that we spend for a photo opportunity 50,000 while we continue to pile up debt. That is why i lost my appetite. That is what upset me. I respect the president. I respect the office of the president. I will be at the state of Union Address trade i would do the things that a congressman should do and interact with a person in the office of the president. I think he has enacted a law of a policies that have been poor choices, and i think he has put this country at risk in a number of areas. I will not disrespect the office of the president. Do you respect president obama . I think he has made a number of mistakes. If you are asking me do i respect to policy decisions . No. Do i respect him as an individual . There are respect the office he holds. . Do i as a christian respect him respect him as a christian and respect him and his family . Absolutely. Another committee that youve been selected to serve on is a judiciary committee. Pairing out with your comments concerns about present obamas executive overreach do you think that republicans ought to consider impeaching the president . I do not. Thank you. Mr. Buck, you are a longtime District Attorney. You also served as a prosecutor. How do you think those jobs prepare you for life on capitol hill . I think while some would look at it and struggle to see the common skill sets. I think it has been great. The primary job of the District Attorney is to get into the community and solve problems. We have reduce crime in my judicial district by 50 in the last 10 years. We have done that by working with City Councils commissioners, police departments, and Development Programs to reduce juvenile crime and deal with drug addictions and other social issues that we face. By working with the community, i think that the same skills are necessary in congress. I will not look at a party label when i sit down and talk to somebody about the need to vote yes or no on a piece of legislation. I think it is so important that we approach this job as problem solvers, not his partisans. Im very excited by this job. I am honored by it. I gave up my badge this morning. That is an emotional thing for someone who has had a badge for 25 years. I think it is very common there are a number of common skills that are involved in the office of District Attorney and legislating. I want to follow up with one of those problems, and that is the budget. If you look at where spending is, two thirds goes to medicare , medicaid defense, and other entitlement programs. So where do you cut . The same answer is where do you spend. You spend everywhere and you need to cut everywhere. It has to be in a way that convinces the American People that you have been fair, that you have not just targeted a certain vulnerable group, but rather dealing with the problem as a whole. The initial places that we will examine and that we need to examine are the discretionary side of the budget. But ultimately, we are going to have to find a way to address the entitlements. I dont like using that word because many of us have paid into Social Security for 30 years. Its not really an entitlement. It is something we have earned. We need to make sure that we deal with the entitlement issue or we will never be able to balance the budget. I say that recognizing that we have made promises to seniors. We have to keep those promises. The way to deal with the entitlement issue is to make sure that the expectations of those entering the workforce now is not that they will be able to retire at 60 or 65. As Life Expectancy increases, we need to make changes. So you would argue raising retirement age longterm . I would support raising the retirement age longterm. That will not balance the Social Security fund or medicare. We have to look at other areas and frankly i am looking forward to listening to the experts and working across the aisle to find ways to solve this problem in the long term. I do not have every answer at this it is one of the reasons point. Why am going to congress with an open mind. The only real goal is we have to make sure Social Security and medicare are available to those americans 40 or 50 years from now. A followup from emma. Republicans, now that they control both houses of congress, has said that they want to double down and tackle a reform of the nations tax goal. Do you think that is a viable goal . You think that is something that can be accomplished in the next few years. And what would you hope to see out of the tax reform package . I think it is not only viable goal, i think it is absolutely necessary. Again, the key term is fairness that all americans recognize that what congress has proposed is fair. It treats people at the lower end of the income scale fairly as well as people to hide and of high in of the income scale. I think it is necessary to flatten our tax code. We have to make sure that people have faith in our tax system and