On a recent Congressional recess, Y’all Politics sat down with freshman Congressman Michael Guest to talk about his first 100 days in the nation’s capitol.
Guest said that while he has enjoyed his time in Washington, the most difficult part has been being away from his family who still resides in Mississippi.
“I’ve enjoyed my time in D.C. I feel like the time I spent as a prosecutor, I’ve been able to take that experience, serving the people of Rankin and Madison Counties and now I have the ability to serve the people of the entire state,” said Guest.
Since arriving in Washington Guest has had the opportunity to question the Secretary of Homeland Security, voted against bills that would limit second amendment rights, and he has also voted to see that elections are run by state and local officials.
When it comes to top priorities he said immigration is at the forefront.
“Of course immigration is front and center as we continue to see the number of immigrants coming across our borders continue to swell each and every day,” said Guest. Guest said the ideas on how to deal with the problem is vastly different between Republicans and Democrats. As a member of the Homeland Security Sub-Committee he has participated in multiple hearings in which he believes there needs to be comprehensive immigration reform.
“We need to be able to secure our borders, modernize our immigration laws. We need to look to see what we can do to end things such as ‘chain migration’ or a ‘lottery system.’ We need to have merit based system,” said Guest.
While tensions may always remain high in the political world, Guest says he has been able to make many friends on both sides of the aisle since he arrived in DC.
“What I can say is that while in Washington during these first 100 days I’ve been able to make a great many friendships on both sides of the isle, Democrat and Republican,” said Guest. He has worked hard to form relationships with other members of the Mississippi delegation including Trent Kelly, Steven Palazzo and Bennie Thompson.
Guest said he believes that if lawmakers seek to move the country forward and pass legislation that addresses many of the issues the country faces today, there must be continued bipartisanship.
And he’s had some early success. Recently, he became the first freshman in this Congress to have his bill, H.R.1590, the Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel Exercise Act, pass on the House floor.
Michael Guest was elected to serve the Third Congressional District in November of 2018. After obtaining the Republican nomination in the primary, he then defeated Democrat nominee Michael Ted Evans. Before running for Congress, Guest served as the District Attorney for Madison and Rankin Counties.
Sarah Ulmer
