{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://long.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=547", "Long Works to Preserve Congress' Legislative Powers, Ensuring No Executive Amnesty", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Billy Long", "L000576", "long.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Rep. Billy Long issued the following statement after the House passed the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act (H.R. 5759) in response to President Obama\u2019s decision to take unilateral action on immigration:  \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe American people want their government to work together, but President Obama has shown by his recent unilateral action on immigration he did not get the message.\u00a0 The president cannot simply create a law.\u00a0 If the president truly believes a change in existing law or a new law is needed, he is required by the Constitution to work with both Houses of Congress.\u00a0 He does not have the authority to take this action on his own, and that why I support this legislation.\u00a0 For all those who want to see the Constitution respected and adhered to, that is what this legislation does. It preserves the legislative powers of Congress and is the first step in the House\u2019s efforts to rein in the president and his reckless unilateral action.\u00a0 I am looking forward to 2015 when the House will have a partner in the Senate and more action can be taken to rein in this over-reaching executive. \u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0  \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Long is an original cosponsor of the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act.\u00a0 This legislation states that the Executive Branch does not have the authority to exempt categories of persons unlawfully present in the U.S. from deportation laws. It also makes clear that any executive action seeking to exempt these categories of persons is a violation of the law and thus has no legal effect. This is a permanent solution to the president\u2019s unilateral action on immigration.\u00a0 Congress is preserving Article I legislative powers with this legislation.\u00a0 The effective date of this legislation is November 20, 2014, the day President Obama announced his unilateral action on immigration.\u00a0  ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://long.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=547"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9480300359427929, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}