Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) led a bipartisan letter with 15 of his House colleagues calling on House leadership to hold a vote on legislation to ban stock trading by members of Congress.
Rep. Pappas writes with his colleagues: "A recent study found that 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act, a decades-old law meant to stop insider trading in Congress and to prevent conflicts of interest among legislators. It's clear that members of Congress should not be trading stocks or using inside information for profit. Reforms are crucial to restoring faith in our government and our political system.
"We have been glad to see recent momentum towards preventing such violations with publichearings. But the fact remains that each day that passes is another day that elected officials could appear to use their public service for personal profit. There is no shortage of bipartisanlegislation ready to be voted on. Although the details matter, we must not let the competingproposals delay us in putting an end to trading and profiting from the stock market by membersof Congress and ensuring public service doesn't become self-service."
The letter concludes: "There should be no reason to delay this process, and we respectfully urge you to schedule a vote on a bill that addresses this critical issue. We stand ready to work with you on a bipartisan proposal as it moves through the legislative process."
Pappas broke with Democratic House leadership in support of the stock trading ban in 2021, and after his advocacy, Speaker Pelosi reversed course and announced legislation to ban stock trading by members of Congress would be considered by the House. He supports and has helped lead several pieces of legislation to make these needed reforms.
Pappas is a co-sponsor of H.R. 336, the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress (TRUST) Act. This bill requires a Member of Congress, as well as any spouse or dependent child of a Member, to place specified investments into a qualified blind trust until 180 days after the end of their tenure as a Member of Congress.
Pappas has also co-sponsored H.R.1579, the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, which would prohibit members of Congress from certain financial activities while holding office, including purchasing or selling specified investments and entering into a transaction that creates a net short position in a security.
Read the full text of the letter here:
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer:
We write today to urge you to put a bill on the floor and hold a vote to ban stock trading by members of Congress as soon as possible.
A recent study found that 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act, a decades-old law meant to stop insider trading in Congress and to prevent conflicts of interest among legislators. It's clear that members of Congress should not be trading stocks or using inside information for profit. Reforms are crucial to restoring faith in our government and our political system.
We have been glad to see recent momentum towards preventing such violations with public hearings. But the fact remains that each day that passes is another day that elected officials could appear to use their public service for personal profit. There is no shortage of bipartisan legislation ready to be voted on. Although the details matter, we must not let the competing proposals delay us in putting an end to trading and profiting from the stock market by members of Congress and ensuring public service doesn't become self-service.
The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stock while in office. Elected officials must be held to the highest standard. It is time for every elected official and candidate to support greater transparency and accountability and ensure members of Congress are working for their constituents, not themselves.
There should be no reason to delay this process, and we respectfully urge you to schedule a vote on a bill that addresses this critical issue. We stand ready to work with you on a bipartisan proposal as it moves through the legislative process.
Issues:
Original source can be found here.
