Insider Trading Prohibition Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STEIL. Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Michigan. Our districts touch in the middle of Lake Michigan, so I have never been to that part of my district, and maybe the gentleman has not either, but I appreciate him yielding.
I rise today to urge support of the Insider Trading Prohibition Act.
I want to thank Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, as well as Mr. Huizenga and Mr. Himes for their work on this important piece of legislation.
As we have seen far too often in this Congress, partisanship and poison pills can get in the way of progress and good ideas. I think all of us, at our core, agree on that. Although this took a little bit of time, I am pleased that we came here today reaching agreements from earlier in the week.
I spent my time working for a period of time at a publicly traded company. I saw firsthand the importance of having markets that operate efficiently but, also, fairly.
Millions of Americans have retirement accounts, 401(k)s, and pensions as it relates to their retirement, and it is critical that those individuals can rely and trust the markets that they are relying on for their end of life.
Millions of Americans are invested in these markets and these investments, the integrity of which is critical. They need to know that we are fighting on their behalf to ensure the game is not rigged to help and favor a privileged few.
This bill includes, in particular, important clarifications that will improve our ability to police insider trading. It also incorporates changes supported by the ranking member in an amendment that I offered that I think provides important clarifications to allow the government to go after the bad guys.
This will ensure the bill is targeted at bad behavior and does not inadvertently prevent people from engaging in legitimate trades. It strikes the balance that I think is crucial if we want to have vibrant and trustworthy public markets.
I, again, want to urge my colleagues to support this nonpartisan legislation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source