This interview was conducted via phone in the fall of 2015, but the questions and responses remain relevant, and will be so for the foreseeable future.

The Representative: Blake Farenthold is a Republican U.S. Representative from Corpus Christi, Texas. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010. Farenthold resides in Corpus Christi with his wife, Debbie and his two daughters, Amanda and Morgan. He is the Chair of the Subcommittee overseeing the Postal Service and the Federal Workforce. Farenthold is a conservative politician who enjoys serving the people in the 27th District of Texas.

The interviewer: Brylee Bolton is a graduate of Texas A&M University, having majored in Communications. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity, writer for Odyssey, MSC Bethancourt Associate, Breakaway Ministries Volunteer, and Wells Project Advocate.

Odyssey: What actions have you taken in Congress or causes have you championed to improve the lives of college students and recent graduates in your district?

Rep. Blake Farenthold: I think the biggest one is promoting economic development and economic growth, so there are good paying jobs for folks who grew up in Corpus Christi and Victoria area so they can actually come back and have a job and they don’t have to move to Houston, Dallas, or Austin to find a good job. They can come home and raise a family where they were raised.

Odyssey: Increases in college tuition have been outpacing inflation for a few decades, and now the amount of student loan debt has surpassed the credit card debt held by all Americans. What specifically can Congress do to rein in these costs, if anything?

Rep. Farenthold: I think one of the big issues we face as a country nationwide is that we are pushing students to go to college and making vocational and technical careers seem not as good as going to college. We’ve got a country whose average age of a plumber is in their mid-fifties. If we don’t start training people to do these sort of jobs, we’re going to be in deep doo-doo, literally. I think another piece of it is we need to encourage high schools to offer dual credit classes. So when you finish high school, maybe you’ve knocked out as much as a year of college with dual classes. You can definitely get a head start in high school on things like the dual credit classes. And finally, I think we need to be encouraging price competition among colleges for students.

And again, I think the fact that we don’t have that is a symptom of as a society we have been pushing people to go to college. Listen, everybody who wants to go to college ought to have the opportunity to go to college, but you shouldn't be looked down upon if you don’t go to college. I mean some people who come out of high school with some craft type training and know how to weld or do things like that are actually starting at more money than my daughter who has a master’s degree is making.

Odyssey: Beyond college costs, which three political issues affecting 18 to 30-year-olds aren’t being talked about enough?

Rep. Farenthold: I think the biggest issue, and it actually is being talked about, and that is the excessive amount of government regulations that we have that make it difficult to start up a new small business. We need to encourage entrepreneurship. I think there’s a--you’re seeing a lot go people that are just going into the workforce, and because it’s too much trouble and there’s too much regulation associated with going out and starting your own business. I think the second one, again it makes the news from time to time but I think it needs to be on tope of mind, is how much debt the federal government has and how it’s going to be, not only recent college grads but their children who are going to be paying off some of these excesses that we’re spending today. So we’ve got to quit borrowing as much money as as government. And I think the final one is, I don’t think we’re looking enough at technology to make services that the government provides more efficient and effective. If we’re paying for the government to provide services, they ought to be able to do it well. And an example of that is the VA and their inability to see patients in a timely manner. I think the slow rate at which our transportation system is adopting to technology. You’ve got cab drivers pushing back against things like Uber. When I think rather than having this fight, we need to be looking at how in 25 years, you’re not going to have taxis or Ubers. There are gonna be autonomous driving vehicles that you summon on your mobile device. And I don’t think we’re looking far enough ahead at technology as a whole.

Odyssey: Congress has a notoriously low approval rating among Americans, regardless of the party in control. Why is the branch that’s supposed to represent the people thought of so poorly by them?

Rep. Farenthold: I think there are two reasons. One I think it’s by design. Our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution believing in a limited federal government. So they actually made it hard for things to become law. They have to pass two houses of Congress and be signed by the president. So it was designed to be difficult to get new laws passed. And I think people are used to seeing a much higher level of efficiency in getting things done. Congress and the federal government as a whole was designed to be slow and deliberative in making laws. So I think that’s one piece. I think the other piece of it is. I think most members of congress are not good at communicating through either mass media or social media. The president says something and everybody covers it. He’s got a ton of Twitter followers. The president speaks with one voice. In Congress, you have 535 members all who have their own things they want to say and their own communication strategy. Even if each party would be better at centralized messaging, it would work better. It’s just to get Congress’s message out when 535 spokesmen. And that being said, there’s an old saying, “everybody hates Congress,” but no congressman would get elected if more than half the people in their district didn’t like them.

Odyssey: What’s one specific policy issue on which you’ve bucked your party’s consensus?

Rep. Farenthold: We had the Iran deal that the procedure for approving the Iran deal. I feel like I saw that was going to be a bad idea months ago. Let me explain what happened. Let’s start this over again so it will sound good in print.

In the spring of this year, the house and the senate overwhelmingly passed a procedure by which the Iran nuclear deal was to be approved. The thing that passed allowed the president to negotiate a deal with Iran and then bring it back to congress to disapprove which meant that it would go through both houses of congress and then the president would veto it and it would actually take place. I saw that this would virtually be guaranteed to be a bad deal would be approved and I was one of about 30 members of Congress who voted against it because I had no confidence that the president could negotiate the purchase of a Whataburger, much less a deal with Iran.

Odyssey: In your current position, which vote do you most regret making and why?

Rep. Farenthold: In my first year, there was an amendment regarding some labor issues, and I intended to vote no for it and I mistakenly voted yes for it and I felt stupid and embarrassed. I voted the way I didn’t want to vote. I just mistakenly pressed the wrong button.

Odyssey: Since 1965, who was the best president not named Ronald Reagan and why? [The question was asked this way to remove the most likely choice for the Republican congressman. Democrats Odyssey interviewed were asked the same question, excepting Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.]

Rep. Farenthold: None of the above. Can I go back to someone like Lincoln? I’m answering none of the above on that one.

Odyssey: Which interest group or lobby has the most undue influence on Capitol Hill, and why?

Rep. Farenthold: I still think the most effective interest group of all are the constituents back home. Any congressman worth his or her salt spends a whole lot of time back in their district doing town hall, talking to people, and that’s who you’ve got to listen to.

I think any group can have influence if they’re willing to spend the effort to mobilize the folks back home. I can’t point to one group who has any undue influence, but the ones with the most influence are the ones that are able to mobilize the people I run into at the grocery store, not the people I run into roaming the halls of Capitol Hill.

Odyssey: The gap between the rich and poor continues to get bigger and is on many people’s minds. What statistical indicators do you use to analyze this? What is your solution?

Rep. Farenthold: I think the most important statistical indicator right now is the labor participation rate which is different from the unemployment rate. It’s basically how many people that could be working are working and we’ve got an awful lot of folks in this country that aren’t working. I think we need to get the government out of the way to encourage entrepreneurship. These new ideas and new companies oftentimes run by young folks that have good high paying jobs with great benefits.

Odyssey: What does the word “equality” mean to you and how do we achieve it as a country?

Rep. Farenthold: Equality means a level playing field for everyone. Everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, and I think we’ve gotten away from equal opportunity and are looking at equal results, and I don’t think that’s the American way. I think if you work harder or work smarter you ought to do better than somebody who sits at home on the couch and watches reality TV instead of going to work.

Odyssey: Finally, if you could have a drink with any non-politician dead or alive, who would it be and what would you drink?

Rep. Farenthold: Excluding Jesus and wine, which I assume would be everybody’s answer, I’m going to go with Jimmy Buffett and some kind of boat drink because I met my wife waiting in line for tickets to a Jimmy Buffett concert so I think it would be cool to experience that with my wife.