Stock Trading Ban for Members of Congress

Floor Speech

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Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of long-overdue legislative measures to prevent Members of Congress from trading stock.

The original STOCK Act passed in 2012 bars a Member of Congress, the President, Vice President, and high-level staff from engaging in insider trading or otherwise using nonpublic information for their own benefit. The bill also included important updates to financial transparency by requiring these high-ranking government officials to quickly disclose financial transactions to the public.

In fact, it is because of this bill's provision that we know that Members of both parties are still consistently able to use nonpublic information to benefit their own stock portfolios.

Incidents like these break our trust with the American people, with our constituents. That is why I am so proud to cosponsor Congressman Magaziner's TRUST in Congress Act. This bill would require Members of Congress and their immediate family members to divest from individual stock holdings or place them into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress.

In practice, it would ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. This is just common sense. Members of Congress should be prohibited from using nonpublic information for our own benefit.

Polling has shown that nearly 86 percent of Americans support barring Members of Congress from trading stock, so this should be easy and it should be bipartisan. The TRUST in Congress Act and bills like it would prevent corruption and restore trust in Congress.

Before I was sworn in to Federal office, I made a personal effort to sell stocks that I had and to ensure that my financial future would not and could not be dependent on information that I might become privy to as a Member of the House of Representatives.

It is about more than following a set of rules. It is about acting ethically and respecting the power of the offices we hold.

In a time where the President of the United States is expected to accept a plane worth hundreds of millions of dollars from a foreign nation, respecting a moral code and setting a strong example could not be more important. I am heartened to see my colleagues on both sides of the aisle standing in support of this issue.

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