that is a good thing. maybe women see things differently, i don't know. >> how is this institution different than the way you walked in in 1997? >> there is a difference. we can have debates on the floor and it was never personal. what i've seen in the last three years is it gets personal. they are attacking members. you never saw that before. it's really a shame. i feel bad about that. this is a great institution and we should be honored that we are here. i certainly am honored that i was able to serve. if you don't have the institution in your heart and the people back home that you are representing, i don't know if you should stay. >> you have a sense of what precipitated that? is it something in society as a whole? >> i think it's the gerrymandering that goes on every 10 years. i don't believe that a democrat should have 97% in a district. i don't believe republicans should have their whole area. i've considered my seat a swing seat. no one ever thought i would hold as long as i did. i am very proud, especially now, how many republicans and democrats will come up to me and say you did a great job. you balanced things. maybe that's just who i am. i happen to think it makes you a better person. the gerrymandering, if you looked at our districts for the last redistricting, might area compact, ands very it was always a republican district. when i ran, it was a republican district. now i started to get more democrats. i was fine with that. the colleague that got the 3% usually wins by 97%. i don't think they needed 3% more. >> you were a republican before you ran for congress. what precipitated your party change? >> it was the gun issue. going back to 1993, my husband was killed and my son was severely injured and four other people were killed. what i saw my son go through and the other families, i decided to get involved in that and try to make a difference. by congressman at that time told me that he would vote to keep the assault weapons bill in place. i was watching the debate. he voted to repeal it. i got mad at him. i decided to run. imf -- i am making it sound very easy and it wasn't. i don't know how many years it was. i never changed my registration. i was still registered as a republican. i never thought that way. people will say that i was probably a rockefeller republican. i was conservative on fiscal issues and liberal on social issues. >> having that background, did it make it easier for you when you worked across the aisle? >> i think my nursing did that. when i speak in front of groups of nurses, i tell them that everything we learned in nursing school and that we learned as nurses working on the floor, you had to take care of a lot of cranky patients and rightfully so. they didn't feel well. you had to hold their hand and tell them it was going to be ok. sometimes you had to push them to do something they did not want to do. that is a perfect formula for working down here. going member to member when i was trying to get people to sign onto a bill, taking the time to explain what it is and what it would do and how it helped people back home, nursing helped me a lot. >> for people who have been a while, it's hard to believe it's been 21 years since colin ferguson opened fire. what is your sons health status? >> kevin is doing well. he goes to physical therapy twice a week. he's at the gym every day just trying to keep what he has. as his mother, i kept pushing him that he needed to go swimming. when he came home about four years ago, he said my physical therapist said i should swim. he goes swimming everyday now. >> has he managed to put together a quote unquote normal life. >> as normal as it possibly can. he went back to work after two and a half years. he did very well and they kept giving him promotions. with a brain injury, stress is probably the worst thing a patient can go through. we saw that wearing away at him. now he is working part-time. he is not in a stressful situation. in the beginning, he needed to get a job and do something. he goes, they are not going to pay me enough. i said it's not the money, it was socializing. it was being up and talking to people. it's helped him quite a bit. >> you came to congress with gun control as the signature issue for you. what have you managed to a -- accomplish in that area? >> i believe i've accomplished several things. those would not be bills, but educating people around the country. trying to say that we are not trying to take away the right to own a gun, but to look at the tighter controls on background checks and the gun show loophole where people can buy a gun without going through a background check. there was a shooting back in my district on a priest and an elderly woman. the person who did the shooting had been adjudicated as mentally ill. he should not have been able to buy a gun, but he did. what we found out was the states did not take those adjudications on mentally ill and put them into the system. we had a bill that did not pass and then virginia tech happened and that was a horror. within a couple of weeks, i was able to get the bill passed. president bush signed it. >> that is what you managed to accomplish during this time? >> it is. and i never forgot -- every day i've been here and there have been a lot of mass killings. each one kind of war a little bit of me away. i would take it so emotionally. as all victims do. it doesn't matter how many years go by, when there is a killing, you go back to that moment when you found out about your husband and your son. every victim goes through this. i was on tv because a lot of members wouldn't do it. i went on tv all the time. people called me some nasty things. that i was taking advantage of the tragedy that was unfolding in front of our eyes area i was more than happy to say hopefully other people will get on. i was always being called. >> did you become an advocate -- that other families come seek you out personally? was that a role you are comfort with? -- comparable -- comfortable with? >> i was comfortable with it. when they started to come down here and lobby, each time there was a terrible tragedy, for to get tech is a perfect example, those families came down to lobby for gun bills. i was the one who had to guide them through the highs and lows and explain to them why it would not come up on the floor. if republicans were in control, they would not allow the bill to come through committee. it was hard because i know they had to learn what i learned. >> about the legislative process? >> the legislative process is difficult. i think it was hard because they came to me thinking that i could cure all. i couldn't. a lot of people said why not you give up and go back to nursing? i could not save every patient that i had. that didn't stop me from going back to work the next day in doing what i needed to do. >> do you have any sense of appreciation about the passion on the other side of the second amendment issue? >> i do. i tried to educate my colleagues on why you shouldn't be using certain terms. in my opinion, the nra members were getting bad in formation. -- misinformation. we have done a better job of educating those members. after newtown, we started having hearings and we brought in nra members and hunters. they did not know that so many thousands of people don't go for a background check. the majority of the going owners are legitimate gun owners. they go hunting. when i was watching the discovery channel, you can appreciate it. that's their sport. i don't think i've ever really talked about that. my husband and i were great skiers. we used to go skiing all the time. in the spring, we would go shooting. all of our friends who lived in vermont were hunters. i just didn't like it as a sport, nor what i be able to kill an animal. coming from new york, i probably wouldn't want to even taste a deer. but that's just my taste. but we have come along way. my colleagues are looking at these things different. i think the biggest difference for newtown is all the different people that were trying to reduce gun violence in this country came together. they had one voice. i think that's the most important thing. i tried to do that eight years ago. i couldn't get everybody together. between this job and trying to bring thousands of supporters together was extremely difficult. i'm going to say that mayor bloomberg made a big difference. those who have been trying to change the gun safety laws never had money. then you had mayor bloomberg coming in and say i will support you to come together. that's what we are seeing now. we still have a long way to go. i happen to believe we should be working on the state level as we saw washington state and colorado in this last election passing laws. if we can make the members here comfortable, because they are petrified of the nra. when the nra says something, they listen. we have to change that attitude. >> is there any other lobby that has as much influence on either side of the aisle is the nra? >> not really. i worked with the nra. we did get a bill passed going back years ago. we worked together to get it passed. every year they do support me to get more funding for the courts to upgrade their computer systems. then there were some other gun groups out there that were going after the nra. they became very militant with their message. they were scared. these are all businesses. you have a lot of people who earn a lot of money at the top of the nra. they get their money from the gun manufacturers. i don't understand when the gun -- why the gun manufacturers aren't with us. gun safety should be one of their priorities. >> this was a signature issue for you. but not the only issue you worked on. on the one hand, was it difficult to break through the reputation of being an advocate for this to accomplish of the things? >> actually not. i know i keep going back to minor scene, by republican chairman saw me as a nurse. they always respected a lot of the amendments that i was able to get through on different committees. they saw me as to i was. yes this was my issue. a lot of them would have liked to have voted with me on reducing gun violence. that's not what they came here for. every reelection, my opponents would say she's only a one issue candidate. have been proud to say yes that's absolute right, but at least i have an issue. i do know any woman on this earth that only has one issue. when you look at the bills i did get past, most of them did have to do with children. i chose to be on the education committee. i felt if i could work with young children in my district and across the country, if there was a way of getting them to not go into gangs or drugs, most of these were underserved communities. the mass killings were not in underserved communities. a lot of them were in the midwest where there were no minorities at all. my job was to save the children and hope that they had the best opportunities in life so they wouldn't go into violence. >> which piece of legislation are you most proud of? >> obviously, getting the bill passed with president bush singing it. that had to be one of my proudest moments. it was the only bill passed in 14 years. the other bills had to do with children and nutrition. i had a nutrition bill in education and could not get traction. mrs. obama came and made that her main focus. a number of my schools, we get them into programs. the grandmothers and the mothers worked in the kitchen and made fresh food for children. it worked at terrific. they have a program where it took a year to have that bill signed. working with the late senator kennedy, i was like wow. you can accomplish a lot. i'm sure even the majority of my constituents have no idea how me -- how many bills i got past. one of my biggest faults, you do something and you get it passed and then i moved on. i would have to stop and think. i was already working on something else. that's just the way i am. >> what would your message be to incoming members of congress? >> get to know your colleagues on both sides of the aisle. even if someone is totally against why you came in or what you are trying to do, find other ways. i could name a couple of my colleagues that nobody would think you could work with them. it's not true. >> go ahead. >> virginia foxx. i happen to like her. she was the head of a community college. i had a great interest in the two minute he has to do with education. we tried to work together with education. on financial services, things i believe would help and after the great crash and we voted for tarp. there were pieces of that legislation the needed to be fixed. republicans and myself worked together to fix them. no matter how you see, just because they are yelling and screaming on the floor. find out what their interest is. work with them. i think that would make us a better congress. >> we are sitting in your office on your last few days. the walls are getting empty. where's all your stuff going? >> delta university. a university back home in garden city approached me when i announced by retirement. i had worked with a delphi university for many years. they have increased their nursing program. they would like to do an exhibit next spring. i'm going, why? they took just about everything. a lot of things are only going to be on loan to them. there are things i want to keep, not for myself but for my grandchildren to look back at. the photos, these walls were covered. each one reminds you of the opportunities i had to travel overseas, i was part of nato. i have a live of history. you get to know other politicians all over europe. i can come back and educate my constituents on why we have to do something. one of the things that they took away was basically traveling. we had a lot of members that said they were so proud that they didn't have a passport. if you look at what we do here on a daily basis, whether it's a foreign affairs, members should get to know why they are voting for something. members should know the money that we spend, especially in third world countries and how that helps them to grow and be lifted up. we have seen that. the world bank or the international policy fund, you give $100 to a woman to open up her own business and become self-sustaining, that is wonderful. it's proud it to see something has grown over the years because the united states of america was part of it. my constituents want to know why we are giving money away. we were trying to make those countries self-sustaining so we wouldn't have to give them so much money in the future. that has happened. >> the leadership election this week for the new congress, the question was asked of mrs. pelosi about the freshness of the leadership team and whether there needed to be younger voices. many are over 70. i am wondering what you are thinking about the institution you are leaving behind as the leadership -- are they equipped for? >> i think we have a lot of talented younger members. it's not just mrs. pelosi. i think she is been a great leader and she is really good at raising money, that's not one of my fortes. i was never good at that. they have to start training younger people and bring younger people into the caucus. they have to become the future leaders. one of the things i believe with all my heart and soul is you have to know when to leave. nancy obviously does not believe this is the time to leave. many thought she might stay for another year. she would turn the reins over to somebody else. when i look around, is anybody really ready to replace her? it's a hard job. i give her a lot of credit for what she is been able to do. i think it's time that the leaders start looking at who's going to fill my spot. we are all replaceable. there might be some bumps in the road, i do believe it's time for younger people to take our spots. they have fresh ideas and new ways of doing things. i see nothing wrong with that. that's progression. that's a normal progression. >> saying that your family wants to have you back home, what are your own intentions about what your life will be like when you get home? do you intend to stay in policy? will you help the party in any way? >> i don't know if i will stay in the politics of it. i am hoping -- i am making plans to do -- is to go into some colleges and educate. i think i can give a great voice to those taking political science that what they are reading in the books is not real. we get interns here from all over and after they are here three weeks they say, this is nothing like we are learning in school. we don't asked the young interns if they are republican or democrat. i don't even ask my staff. i think they need to learn that whether it's a republican issue or a democratic issue, what is best? i want to give them my knowledge that i learned all these years. i will dip my hand a little bit into nursing. i don't want to say teach nursing. i want to say that with all the technology that is out there, which is terrific for the patients, you still have to go back to holding that patient's hand. you have to educate the family's and tell them that it's ok to touch them and hold them. that makes the patient heal so much faster. i know i keep going back to it. it's what i do here with my colleagues. they say if you want a friend, get a dog. i didn't find that at all. when i was ill last year, republicans and democrats called me. they would send me cards and flowers. my place look like a funeral parlor. i'm a gardener, so i loved it. i can say that you have to reach out if you want friendship down here. i know everybody gets tied up with going to the receptions in the evening. you have to do some of that stuff. take time out to make friends with people here. they're good people. >> we will close on this issue. as we close, what do you think about the current state of the need to raise money in order to capture the seats and what that does to the institution? >> that's one of the saddest things we are seeing. when we go to our committee hearings, a lot of members are not there. they are out fund-raising. i think that is a sad part. >> what would you do about it? >> i don't know what you can do about it. i was lucky. i will tell you a quick story. the first week i was down here, we were having a committee hearing in education. my chief of staff said you have to leave. we went into the anteroom, and i said we don't have to go. she said you have to make phone calls. this is my first hearing and your telling me to leave? how my going to learn anything? that's what committee hearings are supposed to be about. she never asked me to leave or take time out from seeing my constituents. i was way ahead of president obama and a lot of other members. we started e-mailing lists. people would donate a dollar or five dollars. i think the average was $44. that was 20 hours a week that i did have to do fund-raising calls. i hardly ever made fund-raising calls. i don't know what you can do about that. there's too much money in the whole process. we should not be worried about raising money. i know everybody thinks that lobbyists come in here. most of my lobbyists were nonprofits. i would remind them, you are here to talk to me about alzheimer's or cancer or any other disease. your lobbyists. you should educate men what you're trying to do. some of them are better than others. i've only had one lobbyist ever lie to me. that person was never allowed in this office again. >> did you have any anticipation of what it will be like when you walk out of here for the last time in a couple of weeks after all these years? >> i think it said. -- i think it is sad. it's been bittersweet. the last two weeks and then right before we went on the break, i'm going to miss a lot of friends. i plan on coming down every once in a while. it was a wonderful experience. those are memories i will have for the rest of my life. will it be bittersweet? of course. it's time to move on and i'm looking forward to that. there are a number of us to get together every day. other members come back. they say you guys are smiling too much. >> the ones who are leaving? >> yes. i don't think anybody realizes the pressure you have when you have this job. i have more energy now. i'm sleeping really well. from talking to my colleagues, they feel the same. you don't realize what the pressure is until the pressure is gone. i did my district work. there was no pressure. i was doing my job and love in -- loving it. but i did not have to worry about the speech. i didn't have to worry about any of that. i will miss it terribly. >> thank you for spending time with c-span. >> thank you for doing this. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [video clip] >> howard coble is retiring. he spoke with us about his relationship with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. his decision to retire, and the issues that remain for the next congress to address. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> congressman howard coble, retiring after this session. you'll be the longest serving republican congressman in north carolina history. what do you think your legacy will be after 30 years here on capitol hill? >> well, not unfavorable, i hope, peter. i hope it will be one that has been laced with credibility. we have interns coming throughout our staff year-round and many have political desires to run for office one day and they ask me what should we emphasize? i say, you emphasize credibility, accessibility. people back home expect to see their elected official and i think justifiably so. i go home just about every weekend. i did every weekend this year. i recall, having served with a fellow who could have been in the congress his entire life. he was that good. he was a good public servant. and he was defeated in the republican primary and i asked him what happened to our buddy. he quit going home, was the answer. quit going home, they never saw him. so they showed him the gate that leads to the road out of town. >> legislatively, what are you most proud of? >> well, when i was elected in 1984, we were known as the furniture, hosiery and tobacco -- textile and tobacco capital of the world. not true anymore. but they're still hanging on, all of those different occupations or professions. my mama was a textile worker so textile legislation was close to home with me. so i'd say accessibility and looking out for the -- back home, that the country did not suffer as a result. >> how has your district changed since 1985? >> oh, tremendously. when we were elected, we had a very compact three-county district -- guilford, alamance and davidson. >> northern north carolina? >> northern north carolina, north-central north carolina. now, i've only stood one election under the new re-districting plan but now we have eight new counties, continue to embrace part of alamance and guilford, picked up portions of granville, orange and durham and coupled with the five complete counties, all new.