Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, first, let me commend the chairman of our committee, Senator Lieberman. As always, it has been a great pleasure to work with him to produce this bill. I also wish to commend the author of the bill, Senator Scott Brown, who was the first to introduce this legislation in the Senate, and also praise the work of the Senator from New York, Mrs. Gillibrand, for her contributions.

The STOCK Act is intended to affirm that Members of Congress are not exempt from our laws prohibiting insider trading. There are disputes among the experts about whether this legislation is necessary, but we feel we should send a very strong message to the American public that we understand Members of Congress are not exempt from insider trading laws, and that is exactly what this bill does.

We need to reassure a skeptical public that we understand elective office is a place for public service, not for private gain. Underscoring that important message is clearly the purpose of this bill, and that is why I support it.

I thank the Chair.

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I too am opposed to the amendment offered by Senator Paul. I do think the idea of a certification is a good one, but, unfortunately, Senator Paul's amendment would strike the provisions of the bill that affirm the duty we have to the American people and that scholars who testified before the committee said was necessary.

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The Senator from Maine.

Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, first, I wish to commend Senator Paul and Senator Shelby for raising the issue of extending these requirements to the executive branch. I agree with them. I supported the amendment offered by Senator Lieberman, but I also encourage my colleagues to support the amendment offered by Senator Shelby. It would take in the independent regulatory agencies, and it goes a little bit deeper into the executive branch. So I think both principles are correct--that the kind of disclosures we are going to be required to make should also apply to high-level executive branch employees.

I thank both the Senator from Kentucky and the Senator from Alabama for their leadership.

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, this is a very good amendment that Senator Enzi has offered. It recognizes the fact that we do not control trades that happen within mutual funds. Thus, there is not a need for reporting every 30 days; rather, we should keep the annual reporting requirement.

It has been cleared by both sides. I do not believe it requires a rollcall vote. I would suggest that we vitiate any rollcall vote that was suggested and adopt it by a voice vote, with the concurrence of the chairman of the committee.

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