Congressman Long was born and raised in Missouri’s 7th Congressional District where he proudly serves his constituents today.
Congressman Long has always believed we need more lawmakers in Washington, D.C. with real-world experience. He owned and operated auction and real estate businesses in southwest Missouri before running for office.
Voted ‘Best Auctioneer in the Ozarks’ 9 years straight, it’s no surprise he has been inducted into both the National Auctioneers’ Association Hall of Fame and the Missouri Professional Auctioneers’ Association Hall of Fame. His motto in the Auction business was “When you want it done right” and that attitude holds today. While he’s known for his unconventional, out of the box thinking, it all gets back to trying to do his best whether that’s selling grandma’s antiques or negotiating with his colleagues on Capitol Hill for the best outcome for his constituents. He’s known for his good nature and humor in Washington which both serve him well when negotiating with colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
Our immigration system is broken. The core issues are a lack of border protection and immigration law enforcement. To strengthen and uphold immigration laws, we must solve the illegal immigration problem by first securing our borders. When our borders are left open, it allows criminals, drug traffickers and potentially even terrorists to enter the country. This is a grave threat to our nation’s security and cannot be overlooked. I support doing what is needed to secure the borders until we have firm control over who enters our nation. Specifically, I support requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify to Congress that the United States has operational control over our southern border. This has to be the first step in the process of fixing our immigration system. We must authorize and deploy more border security personnel and technology and have border-states work closely together to ensure we are maximizing all of our efforts.
I believe in legal, regulated and appropriate levels of immigration. America is a nation of immigrants. Our forefathers immigrated to this land in search of freedom from tyranny and oppression and immigration has remained a prominent feature of American society throughout the history of our nation. America is an attractive nation for immigrants to come build families, conduct scientific research, create businesses and prosper as members of our vibrant communities.
The Trump Administration has taken actions to help with these issues but there is still more to be done. We must enforce our laws and encourage people to become citizens in a legal manner.