Democratic Rep. from Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, has decided to join the Republican Rep. from Texas, Chip Roy, in order to back the bill that would be responsible for curbing Congress members from stock trading.
According to the News Nation report:
“At the heart of the issue: Senators and representatives regularly get classified briefings about subjects that impact the markets and they’re able to use that information, which the rest of the public doesn’t have, to buy, sell, trade, and profit. Spanberger and Republican Rep. Chip Roy, of Texas, a co-sponsor of the bill, both said it’s fundamentally unfair and should be criminalized.”
The report added:
“The legislation would require members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust while the member is in office.”
Rep. Spanberger stated:
“We are long overdue for a vote on legislation to ban Members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks. Last Congress, we saw the TRUST in Congress Act receives the most bipartisan support of any effort to do so. We saw tremendous momentum, we saw growing support in our districts, and we saw growing recognition across the political spectrum that such reform needs to be made now. I’ve been proud to lead the charge on this issue, and I want to thank my colleague Congressman Roy for his continued partnership as we reduce potential conflicts of interest in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Our TRUST in Congress Act would demonstrate that lawmakers are focused on serving the interests of the American people — not their own stock portfolios.”
The Democratic Rep. from California, Nancy Pelosi has been under criticism several times for her stock trading practices.
Earlier this year in January, GOP Sen. from Missouri, Josh Hawley brought forward the PELOSI Act, “Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act.” An act that would forbid the Congress members and their spouses from being involved in stock trading.
The bill was backed by numerous House Democrats.
Hawley stated:
“As members of Congress, both Senators and Representatives are tasked with providing oversight of the same companies they invest in, yet they continually buy and sell stocks, outperforming the market time and again. While Wall Street and Big Tech work hand-in-hand with elected officials to enrich each other, hard-working Americans pay the price. The solution is clear: we must immediately and permanently ban all members of Congress from trading stocks.”
According to the press release:
“Members who violate the requirements will also lose the ability to deduct the losses of those investments on their income taxes. The ethics committees of Congress may levy additional fines and will publicize violations.”
My father used to tell me, back in the 1950s: “Go into politics, it’s a license to steal.” How true is that!!!