Iowa Republican 3^rd The district’s congressman, Zach Nunn, said that if re-elected to a second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, he would make cracking down on illegal border crossings and ensuring Social Security and Medicare health insurance a top priority.

Speaking at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, Nunn said border security is the issue he hears most often as he tours his district in central and southern Iowa.

He said every county had “become a border county” as some Iowa residents had died from fentanyl overdoses.

Nunn said the border must be secured before Congress considers immigration reform.

“Eight million illegal immigrants are a direct threat to our country,” he said. “I don’t think there is a clearer, more direct threat to our country.”

Federal officials have said fentanyl is typically imported in U.S. citizens’ cars from Mexico through ports of entry.

Nunn said he wanted to make some commitments to voters ahead of the November election.

“We want to make sure that Social Security and Medicare are 100 percent guaranteed because the people who paid into it earned it and they have a right to keep it,” he said.

Nunn said he also wants to help lower taxes and fight crime.

Reflecting on his record during his 18 months in Congress, Nunn said he was proud to be among the top 10 most bipartisan members of Congress.

His audience at the Iowa State Fair erupted in applause as he spoke about bills he has introduced that would ban stock trading by members of Congress, eliminate automatic pay raises for Congress and extend the waiting period that members of Congress must wait after leaving office before they can work as lobbyists.

“A senior establishment Republican found me in the parking lot and yelled, ‘Hey, freshman, what the hell are you doing? I can’t trade stocks, you’re not going to give me a raise, and I already have a lobbying job lined up,'” Nunn said. “Well, I said, ‘You know what, bro? I appreciate what you’re doing, but I work for people back home. I hope you’ll consider doing the same thing.'”

Nunn’s wife, three of his six children and his niece accompanied him onstage on Friday, which he pointed out was the Iowa State Fair’s “East Side Night.”

“My wife, Kelly, and I had the privilege of growing up here in eastern Polk County, and you know, we had our second date at East Side Night here at the fair,” Nunn said. “So what happens at East Side Night doesn’t always stay at East Side Night.”

Nunn is running against Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam, who is scheduled to speak at the fair on Monday at 4:30 p.m.