[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 12 (Thursday, January 26, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S110-S111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               STOCK ACT

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Like millions of Americans all across our country, I 
was shocked to learn that insider trading by Members of Congress, in 
fact, and their families and their staff, using nonpublic information 
gained through their congressional work, is not clearly and expressly 
prohibited by law and the rules of Congress. The American people need 
to know that their elected leaders play by the exact same rules by 
which they have to play. They also deserve the right to know their 
lawmakers' only interest is what is best for the country, not what is 
best for their own financial interests.
  Members of Congress, their families and staff, should not be able to 
gain personal profits from information they have access to that 
everyday middle-class American families do not. It is simply not right. 
Nobody should be above the rules.
  I introduced a bipartisan bill in the Senate with 28 of our Senate 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle to close this loophole. The 
STOCK Act legislation is very similar to the legislation introduced by 
my friends in the House, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and Congressman 
Tim Walz. I thank them for their longstanding dedication and leadership 
to this important issue. I also thank Chairman Lieberman, Ranking 
Member Collins, and all of the committee members for their work in 
acting swiftly to move this bipartisan bill out of committee with a 
sense of common purpose straight to the floor for a vote. I thank 
Leader Reid for his leadership and support in bringing up this bill 
before the full Senate.
  Our bill, which has received the support of at least seven good 
government groups, covers two important principles. First, Members of 
Congress, their families and their staff, should be barred from buying 
or selling securities on the basis of knowledge gained through their 
congressional service or from using the knowledge to tip off someone 
else. The SEC and the CFTC must be empowered to investigate these 
cases. To provide additional teeth, such acts should also be in 
violation of Congress's own rules to make it clear that this activity 
is not only against the law but inappropriate for this body.
  Second, Members should also be required to disclose major 
transactions within 30 days, to make information available online for 
their constituents to see, providing dramatically improved oversight 
and accountability from the current annual reporting requirements.
  I am pleased the final product that passed with bipartisan support in 
the committee is a strong bill with teeth and includes measures such as 
ensuring that Members of Congress cannot tip off others with nonpublic 
information gained through their duties and ensured trading from this 
information would also be a violation of Congress's own ethics rules.
  Some critics say the bill is unnecessary and is already covered under 
current statutes. I have spoken to experts tasked in the past with 
investigations of this nature and they strongly disagree. We must make 
it unambiguous that this kind of behavior is illegal. As

[[Page S111]]

my home State newspaper, the Buffalo News, notes:

       The STOCK Act would ensure that it's the people's business 
     being attended to.

  President Obama said in his State of the Union Address, send this 
bill and he will sign it right away. We should not delay. It is time to 
act and take a step right now to begin restoring the trust that is 
broken in Congress.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask to speak as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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