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: Ruben Gallego is a Democrat who, after completing infantry training and serving as a U.S Marine for six years, was elected during the 2014 midterm congressional elections to be the representative for Arizona’s seventh congressional district. Rep. Gallego is also on the boards for the Valley Citizens League, the President’s Community Advisory Board for South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, and the Children’s Museum. He is married to Kate Gallego (née Widland), who is currently a member of the Phoenix City Council.

The interviewer: Sai Sailaja Seshadri is a student at Arizona State University who is majoring in business with a pre-­medical track and hopes to become a pediatric neurologist. She spent a lot of time during her high school career as a journalist and is extremely passionate about continuing her writing through Odyssey.

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. Ruben Gallego: One, I have introduced legislation to help veterans discharge loans so they don’t end up paying tax penalties for that. We have also signed a couple of other bills to look at college loan reform, to reform the college loan system.

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?

Rep. Gallego: I think that since we, the government, are the major suppliers of college loans, I think we can actually penalize or incentivize colleges, for them to keep their costs in line with inflation, and those colleges that violate that kind of principle, we can also start reducing the amount of aids and grants they receive. I also believe that there needs to be other alternatives for students that want to go to college that aren’t necessarily as expensive I believe that we should have the first two years of community college for free. I think that is a very important step. More Americans have their associates degree than they have their bachelor's degree, most jobs only require an associate's degree, so just those two years, making that more affordable can be really important.

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

Rep. Gallego: Well, I think foreign policy is also important. Whenever we go to war, it is 18 to 30-year-olds that are fighting. But here in Congress, we have members that do not have kids who are even at that fighting age but are so quick to say we should send troops here and there. But by the age of 35, I served for six years in the Marines, so I am a little more apprehensive about sending the troops because I know what the consequences of that are, so I think it is really important that young men and women look at candidates and what their policies are.

Secondly, I also look at climate change as I think we want a future on Earth that is not as hot and is sustainable, and I think this is something that 18 to 30-year-olds should worry about.

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. Gallego: I think it is a reflection on the frustration people have with the government. One of the problems with the government is that it is very removed from people's everyday lives. Especially when things go wrong, it is easier to blame other people. A lot of times, it is very correct, the government is the problem like we caused the mortgage meltdown. I wasn’t in office when it happened, but you know, it really caused a lot of distrust among Americans. Also, the second thing is, people only notice when we are fighting ­ they do not notice when we are doing things in a bipartisan manner. The press does not want to talk about when we are all hunky dory and doing great things together.

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

Rep. Gallego: There were smaller things, like for example, I am on the defense committee here and I supported an A­-10 Warthog, it is a military machine that I think is very necessary in the type of battles we engage now, especially in the infantry support. My party wanted to get rid of it and I did not.

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

Rep. Gallego: I have only been here nine months so I have not made any votes yet that I regret.

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

Rep. Gallego: So you basically, as a Democrat, you are limiting me to Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson right? So I have a 50-50 shot. [Laughs] If we wanted to look at it on the record, I think Johnson, minus the Vietnam War, did the greatest leap forward in terms of moving people out of poverty. I think he was extremely important implementing the Civil Rights Act and starting some great programs such as Head Start and Medicaid ­ these are the things that I think have been really significant in turning around what we know as poverty in the country. If I had to choose a Republican, surprisingly I would choose Richard Nixon minus [Watergate] because he had the audacity to reach out to China and really break through in terms of foreign relations with China and really cornering Russia. He founded and implemented the EPA which people forget. He also continued with the Civil Rights movement which started with Johnson.

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

Rep. Gallego: Wait, why would I answer that? Wouldn’t that just make me a bigger target for that group? [Laughs] No, I’m just kidding. I think that is the incorrect way of thinking about it. The way that lobbying works, if they are truly representative of the interests of the district, that is really what matters, so there really is no one answer or another on that one.

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, and what is your solution?

Rep. Gallego: I think there are a lot of economic indicators out there that we can use to figure out whether or not the income inequality is growing. I personally use the Gini coefficients -- an economic scale which determines how wide the income inequality is in a particular country. But also just in general, just looking around, if you talk to most Americans, they feel that they are working more but paying less. These are people who have college degrees, they’ve done everything right, and they are barely making it by. Meanwhile, you can see the average salaries of CEOs that are running through sky high.

What I think we need to do is bring a higher marginal tax rate for high-income earners, we need to do our corporate tax rate so we can make sure that corporations are not paying zero percent effective tax, and we also need to do something about carry interest tax rate which will mean that very rich hedge fund managers are able to pay a very well effective rate on their taxes. That being said, this would not solve income inequality by itself ­what it will do, however, is encourage corporations to invest more money into their companies, which hopefully will increase salaries. Lastly, I think we should take some of that money we receive from higher tax rates and use it for more investments in the middle class, such as free or near free college tuition, subsidizing childcare which is one of the biggest costs for middle class families, and also reinforcing social security.

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

Rep. Gallego: The word “equality” means that everyone has equal opportunities under the law and that we as a government need to also make sure that we enforce that as much as possible also in the private market. I do not think we will ever reach it, because that is nearly impossible as human beings, but I think it is the job of government to always be pushing to perfection on this.

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. Gallego: It would be weird if I said Plato and hemlock so I wouldn’t say that. I think it would be cool to have a drink with Magellan, and it would be sangria... because he is the first man to circumnavigate the world and it would be great to see from somebody’s fresh eyes what they were seeing.