Stock Trading Ban for Members of Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I am joined tonight by a bipartisan group of Members who have come together to take to the floor tonight to call for Members of Congress to be banned from trading stocks.

This is a reform that is long overdue. When people elect us to office, they should be able to trust that their Members of Congress are acting in the best interests of the country, not the best interests of their own personal finances. When Members of Congress are able to trade off of our position, it damages the integrity of this institution and of our entire democracy.

As Members of Congress, we have access to all sorts of information that the average member of the public does not: what might be put into a bill or taken out of a bill, or what might be put into a budget or taken out of a budget. This is material information, and Members of Congress should not have the advantage of that insider information and use that advantage to engage in stock trading.

Also, Members of Congress should not be conflicted when we have to decide about what to vote for or against. Members of Congress should not be in a position of thinking about what the impact on their stock portfolio may be. We should be making decisions based just on what is best for the American people.

The American people recognize that this is a reform that is long overdue. Poll after poll has shown upwards of 90 percent of the American people supporting a ban on Members trading stocks.

This is an issue that has been around for a while. Yet, in just the last few weeks, we have achieved significant momentum. In the last 3 weeks, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House; President Trump; and today, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, have all come out in favor of this reform. That is real momentum that we should carry forward to the finish line.

Mr. Speaker, the Democratic leader is for it. The Republican leader is for it. The President of the United States is for it. Let's get it done.

I am joined tonight by a number of Members who represent, I think, the full ideological diversity of the House of Representatives--both sides, liberal, conservative, moderate, people who understand that the American people expect better of this body.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield to some of my partners in this effort, Members who have had the courage to stand up and say that we need to enact this reform and ban Members of Congress from trading stocks once and for all.

I am going to start by recognizing a Member from the Republican side who I have had several great conversations with on this issue. He has introduced a bill that would put a congressional stock trading ban into effect.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I now recognize the gentleman from California (Mr. Levin), who has been an outspoken champion for this reform for many years.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, the stock trading bill that I am leading was originally introduced by Abigail Spanberger, the Representative from Virginia. I know if she is watching, she is smiling to see all of us coming together and to see the progress that has been made in the last few weeks in building support on this issue.

I give her a lot of credit for getting the ball rolling along with the next gentleman who I am going to introduce, who has been a fantastic partner and co-lead on the TRUST in Congress Act. I know that we are going to get this done, in large part due to his leadership.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for being a great partner on this and a great leader on this issue for many years.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I now recognize someone who is new to Congress but who I know is passionate about this issue and I believe campaigned on it, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Bresnahan).

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Stansbury), a good friend and a leader on the Oversight Committee who I know is committed to strong ethics reform.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I will take a second to thank all of my colleagues on both sides who came out tonight. This is a busy week in Congress. We have got reconciliation markups going on. Peoples' schedules are busy, but the fact that we have so many Members from both sides of the aisle who have the courage to stand up and say something that may not be popular with everyone in this Chamber and have also made it enough of a priority to come tonight is a great credit to each of them. I thank them for their leadership.
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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I come from New England where we also know something about winning all the time, but we will keep it in Missouri for now.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Deluzio).
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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Kim very much for her comments.

I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for her remarks. I now yield to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Ansari), a new Member who has come in and has already been making a mark. I know she is here with the intent of being a reformer, which is what we need in Congress.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Ansari for her thoughts on this matter. Before I yield to the next Member, let me just preface this by saying, again, we have had a big couple of weeks in this fight to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks.

Not only rank-and-file Members, but leaders have been coming out in favor of this commonsense reform: Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, today Speaker Johnson, and President Trump.

I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), a leader who has been out in front on this issue for a long time. Our Assistant Democratic Leader is a longtime cosponsor of the legislation that I have reintroduced to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks.

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, as we get ready to close here tonight, I thank my colleagues once again for their leadership on this issue and their courage because, as was said earlier, the opponents of this stock trading ban don't speak out publicly, but they are here, and they are watching and listening, and they are probably not very happy with us tonight.

It takes people of courage to be willing to stand up and say: We here in Congress have to change. We have to change the way Congress works so that we work for the American people and not for ourselves. We need to end this corruption. We need to end this insider dealing. We need to end congressional stock trading.

What you have seen tonight is that this is a bipartisan issue. We have had people speak tonight from across the political spectrum who had the courage to stand up for what is right and to stand up for what the American people not only want but are demanding of us.

Make no mistake, this insider trading is happening. It is happening. I have the statistics right here. In 2024, the average Member of Congress outperformed the market by nearly 3 percent. Now, I used to work in the investment business, and let me tell you, there are paid professionals who do not have that kind of outperformance.

The year before that, the average Member of Congress also outperformed the market, and the year before that, and the year before that. The last 4 years in a row, Members of Congress who traded stocks outperformed the market.

That is not a coincidence. One time, one year might be luck, but two, three, four years in a row is a clear pattern of corruption that needs to end. Members should not be allowed to trade off of inside information and should not be conflicted when deciding how to vote on a bill or whether to support a policy.

The American people support this overwhelmingly, and it is time to get it done. I am feeling hopeful. Earlier this year, it was hard to get people to pay attention to this issue. It was hard to get media coverage. It was hard to get Member support, but in the last month or so, things have started to change. Leader Jeffries supports it; Speaker Johnson supports it; President Trump supports it. People are starting to notice. We are building momentum.

I will end tonight with gratitude for those who started this journey before I ever got to Congress. Former Members, like Abigail Spanberger and Ken Buck, have pushed for this for years. We are now building off of their work. I have the TRUST in Congress Act that I have been leading with Mr. Roy. We have got a few other Members who have introduced their own versions. Those of us who have various versions of a stock trading bill are now working together to develop a consensus bill that we can all get behind and push together, and we are getting close.

The excuses for inaction are running out fast. The excuses for inaction are running out. The American people want this. It is the right thing to do. Let's get it done.

Once again, I thank my colleagues from both sides who have had the courage to stand up tonight in support of a stock trading ban. The time is now. Let's get it done.

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