Republican Texas Rep. Pat Fallon introduced legislation Wednesday that would prevent members of Congress and their spouses from buying or selling individual stocks.
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the legislation, entitled the Insider Trading Prevention Act. The bill would specifically create a ban on trading a covered financial instrument by a member of Congress or their spouse; would allow for exceptions permitting spouses to continue to receive stock as part of their compensation in a job; would require members to certify compliance that is publicly available and would create fines equal to the price of the trade or $25,000, whichever is greater, per each violation.
A number of social media users have been tracking several members of Congress’ stock trades to try and get ahead of the market, as bipartisan attempts to ban members from trading stocks have started to gain more traction. Thirty-five members of Congress outperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, an index fund tracking the world’s 500 most valuable stocks.
“In 2022, nearly 100 Members of Congress violated the STOCK Act, a bill which was intended to prevent insider trading. One of the worst offenders, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has seen her assets increase to the tune of $140 million since the Great Recession. It’s reasons like this that the American people are losing faith in their elected officials and our republic,” Fallon told the Caller before introducing the legislation.
“Undoubtedly some members seek to use their position to enrich themselves and their families. Still more make honest mistakes trying to navigate the often confusing reporting requirements. A cottage industry has sprung up in the media, often ignoring bad actors and instead excoriating innocent oversights for partisan reasons. To end all of this, we should simply pass legislation that, once and for all, makes it clear the sitting members of Congress are banned from trading individual stocks altogether,” he continued. (RELATED: House Ethics Committee Announces Investigation Into Madison Cawthorn Over Alleged Insider Trading, Claims Of ‘Improper’ Sexual Relationship With Staffer)
READ THE LEGISLATION HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
A majority of Americans believe members of Congress should be banned from trading stocks while in office, according to a Trafalgar Group/Convention of States Action poll released in January. Five percent of respondents approved of lawmakers trading stocks, and 19% had no opinion. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Prohibit Senior Federal Employees, Spouses From Trading Stocks)
“The Insider Trading Prevention Act is a critical first step to restore the public’s faith in Congress. This is clear, easy to understand and will eliminate altogether good faith errors and, more importantly, egregious self aggrandizement and insider trading,” Fallon added.