and the united states senate and, most of all, the electoral college to win the white house. our conversation with our members is we have to put one good day in front of another, no wasted time, no underutilized resources and no regrets the day after the election. >> the u.s. house is currently on it district work break, but nancy pelosi has decided to call members back to washington to work on legislation regarding the u.s. postal service. the chamber gavels in on saturday with the first vote expected about an hour later. watch that life on c-span. coming up monday, host master general louis dejoy testifies on post office operations and the upcoming election. that begins live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two.

>> now, texas republican congressman will heard and former texas representative beto o'rourke hold a virtual discussion with axios on generation z and the future of politics. is ar next guest representative of texas's 23rd congressional district, congressman will heard, joining , joining us live from san antonio, texas. officer. former c.i.a. you have been the only black republican in the house and he represented -- represent a more than two thirds latino district. i am curious, for younger listeners interested in entering politics, what is your message for gen z?

should you bother running for office? is congress a place to get anything done? greaturd: margaret, question. and i think it is all of the above. effectiven able to be as a black republican in a latino district. i have had 16 pieces of legislation signed into law. that's under a democratic resident, a republican president, a democratic speaker, a republican speaker. it is not easy and our system was designed not to be, but i am proud of my legislative success, and i am proud that i have tried to be known as a problem solver. i will work with anybody to do that. so i would tell young folks to get involved. being ancongress, elected office should be something you should aspire to. but i also want to tell my colleagues, my peers that we

should behave and model the behavior we want to see in young folks. i want kids when they are 10, 11 years old being like, i want to be a police officer, i went to be a fireman, i want to be an astronaut also be like, i want to be a member of congress. right now, our job approval is not very good, and we should think about that as we move forward. the other piece of advice i would give young folks is go out and have a career before you get into politics. the reason i have been able to be effective is i have a decade in national security, in cybersecurity. i was able to take that experience and bring it to congress. that's why a lot of the legislation i have passed is on national security. i have been able to be more effective in a shorter time than most and my legislative record is better than a lot of other

leaders because i have expertise and i brought that to congress. that is something i would advocate for. ways tothere are many serve your country. i would like to encourage folks to serve in the state department, in the cia, in the peace corps. have that experience and then bring that back to their government. so, my short answer is all of the above. after watching the movie, i am excited. i have crisscrossed my district and talked to many high school, middle school, elementary schools. i try to hit them all. people always say they are worried about the future of this country. i'm not because i see these young kids that care more about things. when i was in high school, i was interested in playing basketball, running the streets with my buddies, watching the

latest movie that came out, playing video games. so that is exciting. you turned 43 this week, a ripe old age. you are young for the -- for a member of congress. you are a gen xer. we are talking to people in their 20's, gen z. they are living through a pandemic. they are watching the white house respond to it and our national elected leaders response. it seems like we have a conflict between science and politics. it seems like politicians have met an impasse. after the first round of everything is at stake. the postal service. are we going to be able to vote?

do you see this as a moment of shame? how do you interpret the very turbulent and frustrating times we are in right now? i think the way we get out of this is we follow the i think his name was stephen, who was running for , and he talked about, he wanted to go and listen to people. he wanted to hear their concerns . that's the message, that's something i have tried to do since i was in congress. i was able to be effective and be a model for others because i represent everybody in the district, not just the people who voted for me. i think when we really focus on the issues that people care food on theng table, a roof over their head,

making sure people are healthy and happy, that is going to resonate with folks. people want to see us getting things done and solving problems. thoseunately, there are on both sides of the political contrast iselieve the way to win elections. and that has been successful in the past. day, it used to be the good policy was good politics. i think sometimes that has been flipped. we could use this time and the craziness we are all going through to say we demand people to solve problems. you have to solve them at the local level, the state level, and the federal level. i think this is an opportunity for us. folks to make hard

choices. attackedeasy getting from both sides. show at easy trying to middle way. end, people care about results. that is what i have found. that is why people are frustrated right now. the first three care packages -- why did they work? because we negotiated them at the beginning in a bipartisan way. get big things done is by doing it together. and the first three packages we did. you have expressed some frustrations with president trump. a republican and the president is a republican. i know you have been thinking hard about how you will vote in november. have you made a decision and

would you share that? rep. hurd: i am looking at both choices. disagree and i i agree when i agree. is someone to come in here and show that the way you solve problems is by empowering people, not by empowering government. i want someone who recognizes that the way we issue peace is by working with our friends, being nice with nice guys and tough with tough guys. i want someone who recognizes and understands the way you help people up the economic ladder is by making sure that when we are talking about the free market, not socialism. these are things i am look for in this upcoming election. these are the things people are frustrated with. i want to make sure we have two strong parties. i am proud to be a republican and making sure we grow the

for people that haven't even met a republican. when i first came into office, people were like, i have never met a republican. so for me, that is what my goal is. that is what i want someone ultimately to do. question, butlast it is important. what are you doing next? are you running for political office and when? what is your goal after november? rep. hurd: i am going to stay the intersection of national security and public policy. i will be doing that, helping some high-speed, low drug companies do that. lacee opportunity comes to up the shoes again, i will reevaluate.

i am looking forward to making an impact a different way. margaret: congressman, please stay in touch with us. thank you for joining us today. rep. hurd: thank you. margaret: our next guest is another texan, beto o'rourke, ander congressman, presidential candidate, joining us live from el paso. mr. o'rourke: good to be with you. you launched powered by people last december. can you tell us more about what you have been doing. we are talking about gen z americans. how much of what you are doing relies on young people? are a hostke: there of opportunities in texas right now. this is the first chance in 20 years to gain democratic control

of the state house. as you know, the statehouse after the 2020 census will be tasked with were re-drawing political districts throughout the state of texas. as you probably also know, that power has been used to disenfranchise lack voters and latino voters for more than 100 years -- black voters and latino voters for more than 100 years. texas always ranks 50th in the country in turnout because of gerrymandering, id laws, pulling closures, and all of the tactics that have been the hallmark of the kind of democracy you see in texas. if we get a democratic majority, we can begin to draw people back into their democracy and really have a fully functioning democracy. the second big opportunity is for texans for the first time in 44 years to award our electron

-- electoral college votes to the democratic candidate for president. jimmy carter was the last president to do that. that they believe texan impact on american politics will be seismic. it will once and for all and he endmp presidency and -- the trump presidency and allow us to start the next chapter. youre last part of question, young people are going to be the vanguard of this. i came very close to beating ted cruz. i won more votes than any democrat had ever won. young people lead the day. voter turnout was up 5% over the last election. whether it is reproductive choice, climate change, access to health care, fighting back against this pandemic, young ,eople are on the front lines

coordinating the conversation and the change that needs to follow. so at the ballot box, we are counting on young people right now. margaret: you think the biden campaign really understands what the opportunity is or really believes it's as close as it is? do you expect him to court texas in the campaign and the convention? rep. o'rourke: now. but that is nothing new. texas has really been on its own . it has been 44 years since texas voted for the democratic nominee for president. we have been left to our own devices for the majority of that time. but there has been an extraordinary reliance born of texans, withy texans reaching out to their fellow texans. 18 before the election or be they 19 and this might be

the -- 90 and this might be the last election day vote in -- election they voted in. our organization, powered by people, has made more than two and a half million phone calls. not prerecorded calls, texans inviting other texans in. we have been working to register eligible texans to vote. we registered 77,000 of them so far ahead of this election, and most of them are likely democratic voters. so, i feel really good about what texas is doing. whether the dnc or the biden embraces they opportunity texas represents, texans, i believe, will carry the day. we are going to invest our time and what resources we have to make sure that the meat of this moment. i feel really good about texas right now. margaret: when we talk, and we

have been talking for years about texas flipping democratic, and we talk about it largely in terms of demographic trends and the latino population in texas. is that what you think will make a difference, or is it the coronavirus? do you think the pandemic will make it more or less likely for that flip to be possible? , there ise time hardship on the economic front and concerned about being able to turn out in person to vote. i think if you look at where texas was already going, so from 2018, i came within two and a half point of ted roos. but we -- ted cruz. twowe also elected congresspeople that replaced long serving republicans. in the nine districts we picked up we won more votes than ted

cruz, so we know it is possible. 17 african-american judges were all alike that in harris county, all of them -- elected in harris county, all of them women. this state is moving in the right direction quickly. you have the failure of leadership in texas that has cost 10,000 texans their lives. the latinoating population in texas. 90% to 95%,s are and they have run out of space in the morgues and funeral homes. iss failure of leadership of --st on the electric

of texas texa. they are looking for leaders who will prioritize saving lives over politics. are a lot of ideological conservatives in texas. that goes to the question of polarization, which has gripped congress. theiru advising people in 20's to run for national office? do you think you can have a bigger impact at the state or local level than congress right now? >> i think those are false choices. there are a million different ways to serve, and all of them are necessary.

i am calling voters across texas to make sure they are ready to turn out for the most important election of our lifetimes. ,here are first-time candidates an extraordinary number who are women, women of color, and black women in a state long known for the racial suppression of voters in texas. wouldn't that be wonderful if one of the most diverse states in the country, one of the most diverse cities, what if we could elect a majority that looks like the state? so it is necessary for those candidates to be running. i am inspired by their courage. it looks like we will pick up some u.s. congressional seats as well. these are first-time candidates running. in if they did

not put themselves out there. all necessary jobs. we need people to step up and do it. >> we are out of time. i want to ask you one more question because there has been controversy over the post office and getting a vote in on time. how are you advising first-time voters to vote and what are you advising them to do? i don't mean who to vote for, i mean how to vote. given the deadliest pandemic since 1918, most of us are not allowed to vote by mail. for those who are, request that ballot, fill it in, and send it back. for everyone else, vote in early voting. do not wait until election day.

bethere are lines, they will shorter. it is convenient. at many counties, you can vote at an early voting location, so easier to get it done. by all means, you have to vote. you do not want to look back on the selection, this moment, and wonder what if. let's leave it all on the field and do it all while we can. >> thank you for bringing us up to speed and spending time with us today. >> thank you. us this you for joining afternoon for another virtual conversation i hope has made everyone smarter. come back every day this week and next week to take part in ios virtual event.

coverage ofur live the democratic national convention continues live tonight with represented out as osseo cortez, bill clinton -- because youve cortez, bill clinton, joe biden, c-span, c-span.org/d&c, or listen on the free c-span radio app. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. ♪ announcer: washington journal, getting your reaction to the dnc and news of the day. live wednesday morning, the convention, of the and what to expect on the third night. also the role of women in

campaign 2020. naacp derekt of the johnson on black voters and issues most important in campaign 2020. c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 p.m. eastern wednesday morning, join the discussion. sure to watch the democratic convention live on c-span, listen live with the free c-span radio app, stream or watch on demand c-span.org/dnc, and on the web with the latest dnc schedule information come and sign up for our newsletter, offering a synopsis of the day's. day's events. announcer: president trump spoke in yuma, arizona on immigration and border security. here is a portion of those comments. decades,mp: for washington politicians like biden allowed in