Host were you born in your district . Rep. Mike bost yes, born and raised. I was driving for the Family Trucking business and i got hit on a motorcycle by a drunk driver. It was in october and i got hit hard. I ended up with just a slightly twisted ankle. I was at home, not in the truck, when the iran hostage situation happened. At 18 years old, you think you can change everything. I waited up and the next thing i knew i woke up in marine corps boot camp and i was serving. Host so it was the iran hostage situation that motivated you . Rep. Mike bost maybe that is why i run into buildings other people run out of. Host looking back to that incident and where we are with iran now, what are your feelings . Rep. Mike bost i am not a big fan of what the president is trying to do as far as his negotiation with iran. They have a history. The history that we have had to deal with. We want to be very careful. I want to make sure that whatever we do we make sure that they dont have a nuclear weapon. Im going to be standing very strong to make sure that my voice is heard through congress that we are not going to go down that path. Host getting back to campaigning a bit. Youre in your first term. Tell us about the process of winning reelection to your seat in 2016. Has that started . Rep. Mike bost it has. 20 years in the illinois general assembly, i ran every two years. You immediately go right back into running in the state of illinois because it is an early primary. We are going to be out and doing that shortly. It is part of the process. Somebody said they felt we should change the constitution. I dont think so at all. I think the best way that we can keep our congress in check is that every two years they have to go back to the voters. It is the voters that make that decision. Host do you feel you fit the bill of Citizen Legislature . Rep. Mike bost id like to say yes but in a moment, if they dont want me, ill go right back. I also think that we need people with experience and set is also a reason why we why i dont agree with term limits. What happens is that bureaucrats and up running the government, not those that are elected. I want to be sure that its the elected people. Host you have a picture of your grandkids in your office. Rep. Mike bost we had to tape one of the newest ones on the top. Birdie was born a week ago sunday. They range in age from 14 to newborn and they all live within six miles of the house. I have three children of my own. I think they are done now. I dont know. My wife made the statement because there was no more room in the car, she said i think weve had enough. I told her she doesnt make the call. Host have your kids and grandkids been back east to washington . Rep. Mike bost they have. I had one of the greatest lessons. I have a picture of it hanging in my office. My grandson and his pain on for the first time. My grandson pinned the pin on me for the first time. Host would you like to see one of your grandkids in office . Rep. Mike bost i dont know. My son is 34 now. He knows the strain it puts on life. Id be very proud of them whatever they do. I dont know that i would definitely push them that way. Host illinois congressman mike bost. Thanks for being with us. Announcer next, a conversation with congress and all freshman Bonnie Watson coleman. She is the first africanamerican female in congress. This is about 20 minutes. Host congresswoman Bonnie Watson coleman of new jersey. What do you think of your time in washington so far . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman it is exhilarating and frustrating all at the same time. It has been a great learning curve for me. It is so wonderful to be sort of in the midst of all of this activity and all of these important policy initiatives and discussions that are taking place that impact people throughout the country. Host you come from a background of having served in the new Jersey Legislature. Was it easy to transition with staff and issues from that setting to capitol hill . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman from the extent that i knew certain kinds of staff. That was a pretty easy transition. The experience down here is very different than the one in state government. In state government, you had a predictable committee schedule. You had a predictable employee schedule. Everyone was on the floor when you were voting and debating issues. It is very different down here. You never were called out of a Committee Meeting into voting and then go back to your Committee Meeting or resume your duties like you do down here. The rhythm is very different. Host has it been hard to get used to . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman actually it is kind of exciting. You really dont know what is going to come at next. Your senses are heightened. You are ready to move quickly and you know that you have to be prepared in a shorter. Of time in a shorter period of time. Its really quite exciting and interesting. Host we are taping this conversation and a studio in the capital and you came over here i one of the tunnels before we started. You said your experience working here has been like one constant tunnel. Explain that. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman a lot of times, we move from our Office Building to the capital and we go through the tunnels. Everything around you is about the work you are doing down here. I mentioned that i sometimes feel like i am in a tunnel even when im not in there because my whole existence is like being here as a legislator, dealing on the floor with our issues, becoming part of a caucus, raising special order hour issues. Everything that surrounds me is about being here. Host has a bit hard for you to make the transition personally from being able to go home in the evening as opposed to staying in washington . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman my husband is principally retired and is a parttime pastor of a church. He is with me a lot when i come home at the end of the evening and come to our little tiny apartment. I do get a chance to have that consistency in my life and it is very nice. Host you also brought from your office a picture that hangs there. Who is in the picture . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman its my father. I am one of four and the only girl. I was a daddys girl. I father served in the legislatoure for a number of years. I took his seat. Host what does it say to you when you see his picture each day . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman it says i was raised to be a Public Servant and that my father and mother always taught all of us to give as much as required. It is, do what you have to do, do it to the best of your ability, and be honest in all things. Host i read a profile of you that said you were an activist legislator or wanted to be. What does that mean . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman i believe very strongly in issues. The civil rights movement, a womans right to choose, Voting RightsAffordable Health care, i recognize the importance of immigration and immigrants to the economy here. I am very supportive of and recognize that in order for everyone to prosper, we have to concentrate on middleclass values and workingclass values. Im very supportive of unions. I have always been outspoken. I have addressed issues that didnt necessarily have a strong voice. I have taken them on. I guess that with things that i have done with regards to Second Chance legislation, giving individuals alternatives to incarceration and recognizing the negative impact on our economy of massing cursor ration mass incarceration. I guess that makes me an activist. Host you just introduced your first bill into congress, it deals with online gun sales. How do you move that forward . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman thats not my first piece of legislation. The bill basically makes it difficult or impossible to purchase ammunition anonymously. If you purchase ammunition online, you will have to go and secure it through a licensed dealer and you will have to show identification. In addition, if someone is purchasing more than 1000 rounds of ammunition within a short. Period of time, the dealer has the responsibility to report it. It gives us a chance to look into these issues before they become another tragedy. I worked on gun legislation. I think it is very important that we reduce the access to guns and ammunition, not necessarily or sportsmanlike activities or for hunters. I come from a family of hunters so i know, dont mess with their rifles. We have a society now that is so very dangerous because ammunition and guns get into the hands of the wrong people. Coming here and looking at areas that i can move into and extend what i did in new jersey, this is a Natural Evolution of who i have been and who i want to be here. Host how are you and your staff moving this forward . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman we are first of all trying to get as many people to sign as cosponsors as possible. We have 28 now. We had a conference yesterday. We reached out to organizations that are interested, the million moms march, Peace CoalitionClergy Coalition etc. As Community Activists so that we can reach out to their communities. We have to build up a sense of willingness that this is an important piece of legislation and we can approach it from a bipartisan perspective. This is a bipartisan issue because the tragedies that have happened with the mass killings, they dont care whether or not you are in an urban democratic, republican, rural environment. This is something we can all coalesce around and recognize that there is value in limiting the access anonymously to people who want to purchase ammunition. Host what is a typical day like for you here in the house . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman it can start with a meeting or it can start with a reception in the morning or a meeting at 8 00 in the morning that is offsite. It would involve a series of meetings in your office. You would be called out into your Committee Meetings and your subCommittee Meetings. At some point you will be interrupted during that time and come over to the house floor and vote and you will be there for a series of votes and then you will go back and either resume a Committee Meeting or subCommittee Meetings and go back again to the floor to vote again. From there, you will either go to a caucus meeting or you will go to a reception or some sort of after our meeting. I get home around 9 00 at night. It is a pretty full day. Host what keeps you on schedule . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman ive got some incredible staff. I have a scheduler. I have the chief of staff and ive got my legislative director. Im working with my Communications Director who always finds an opportunity for me to reach out in this fashion or other. I have a really great staff. Host how is your communication and relationship with democratic leadership . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman i think we have a good communication and relationship. I am new. Im not necessarily their priority. I certainly and brace our desire i certainly embrace our desire to work for workingclass families. That is what we stand for. I am very comfortable with the direction in which we are being led. Host different scenario from the new Jersey Legislature in terms of the majority here in the house being republican. How long do you get along how well do you get along with members across the aisle . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman when i was the majority leader in the legislature, i had to work with republicans. I think i have old friends here like leonard lance. I havent had the opportunity to meet a lot of new legislators from the republican conference because we dont get to interact much except for the committees we are on. Host does it help to have the new jersey delegation republican or democratic helping guide you through some of the inns and outs of capital hill . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman i have relied on mr. Palone and mr. Payne. They have introduced me to many people and helped me not get lost. They are very open and supportive of new members. Host youre the first africanamerican woman to represent the state of new jersey. What does that mean for you personally . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman for me, it means that i am the Congress Representative to women who feel that we havent had a Congress Representative for a very long time. I am going to womens organizations and trying to help women candidates. It is the same with africanamericans. Fortunately, new jersey has three. We have a responsibility to uphold the cause and issues for People Like Us all over the state of new jersey as well as representing everybody within our district. It means that i get called to come to Suffolk County or Cumberland County to meet with a womans group or an africanamerican group in addition to doing the things within your district the things within my district im doing. It goes from mercer to middlesex and a little bit of union. Host you mentioned your dads service. Where and when and why did you get involved in Public Service . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman i have always been involved. I was a career state employee in the executive branch for 28 years before i decided to run for my fathers seat. My father died. He always wanted one of his children to take on this position and we always told him no. You already compromise or anonymity. When he died, it was a way of honoring him and the work he had done. We used to tell him that that was his ministry. When he died, his seat became available, not because he passed, but because the person in his seat had moved up to the senate. It seemed to be the right time. I had a wonderful experience serving that 15th legislative district. Host how long did you serve in the statehouse . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman 15 years. Host back to your district. You explained it geographically. What is it like . What is the typical constituent like . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman i have probably the most diverse district in the state of new jersey and maybe even in the country. It is predominately white and has a strong south asian population, asian population, lack population, latina population. It is basically an educated district. It is also a workingclass district. I go from trenton to princeton to plainfield to old bridge in south brunswick. Host what are some of the typical requests that come up for your constituents that are addressed here on the hill . Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman i have a large senior population concentrated in the communities that have been built for seniors. Social security and medicare. Access to good Public Education and deported and affordable higher education. Also, jobs, jobs, jobs. And Public Safety on top of it. [indiscernible]