Stock Trading Ban for Members of Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island, and I am honored to follow my friend from Kansas City, Reverend Emanuel Cleaver.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with him. This is a bipartisan issue. Today, I rise to introduce the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act. My bill is complementary to Senator Josh Hawley over in the Senate.

If you travel the Fourth District of the great State of Missouri, just south of Reverend Cleaver's district in Kansas City, and you ask the average person, Mr. Speaker, if Members of Congress should be able to trade individual stocks, they will say no. That is not good for our Nation. It is not good for this body. It is not good for rebuilding trust in the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.

The reason we introduced this is because there have been widespread reports of suspicious transactions associated with public officials and it raises a lot of concerns about what we are doing here in this great body.

If you want to run for the U.S. House of Representatives or you want to serve the people, Mr. Speaker, that is fine. If you want to trade stocks, then go to Wall Street.

I am the chair of the Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations Subcommittee for the Small Business Committee, I am concerned about Main Street. I am concerned about the 772,047 individuals that I represent. That is what we should be here about, not trying to get rich on trading stocks.

My bill is bicameral. It is bipartisan. As I said before, it is led in the Senate by Senator Josh Hawley. President Trump has announced that he will support this legislation to make this law. He will sign it into law.

Today, Speaker Johnson indicated his support for the underlying policy and the Members gathered here tonight prove that this is a bipartisan mission, to right the ship, to get us back on the right track.

This legislation has workable compliance deadlines. It allows trading in broad-based index and mutual funds and requires real enforcement. It has teeth with substantial penalties for violations. As public servants, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard, Mr. Speaker, and avoid the mere appearance of corruption and impropriety.

Unfortunately, too many Members of Congress are engaging in suspicious stock trades based on nonpublic information to enrich themselves. These gross violations of the public trust make it clear: We must finally take action and take a stand to ban Members and their spouses from owning or selling individual stocks.

It is simple. Public service should never be a pathway to private wealth, especially when everyday Americans are struggling. This is about rebuilding trust in what we do.

Congress works for the people, not to enrich our bank account. I am proud to join my colleagues tonight on the other side of the aisle. It is kind of refreshing to have something that we agree on, but we agree that America comes first, our constituents come first, and we, as servant leaders, should come last.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for holding this Special Order hour.

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