[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 14 (Monday, January 30, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S141-S142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             THE STOCK ACT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the lifeblood of our democratic government 
is the contract between the people and their elected representatives--a 
contract that must be based on trust that elected officials will act 
for the good of our Nation and in the interests of their constituents 
and not for personal gain. To ensure that we maintain that trust, our 
Nation has laws and our Congress has rules that establish clearly the 
responsibilities of government officials, Members of Congress, and 
their staffs and that provide for the enforcement of violations. The 
legislation that will be before us is, in a way, preventive maintenance 
to protect that trust. It is a tightening of our legal and ethical 
guidelines as part of what must be a constant effort to ensure that the 
interests of our Nation and our constituents come first. Our 
constituents must have confidence that Members of Congress and our 
staffs will not use our positions for our personal financial benefit.
  There should be no doubt that regardless of our action on this 
legislation, the STOCK Act, it is a violation of the trust our 
constituents placed in us, a violation of the democratic process, a 
violation of the securities laws, and a violation of congressional 
ethics rules for Members of Congress or their employees to engage in 
insider trading--the use of information not available to the public to 
make investment decisions.
  Insider trading is and will remain prohibited for Members of this 
body to seek private profit through their public responsibilities, no 
matter the fate of this bill. But questions have been raised about 
insider trading by Members of Congress. The legislation before us today 
is designed to ensure that those questions are answered. It removes any 
doubt that insider trading by Members and employees of Congress is 
against the law and against congressional rules. It is important to 
remove that doubt because any appearance of a breach in trust between 
Congress and our constituents is so corrosive to honest, open, and 
effective government.
  Back in December, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
Committee held extensive discussions on the need to preserve that 
trust, including a very productive hearing on December 1. Later in 
December, the committee held a markup and approved the Stop Trading on 
Congressional Knowledge Act, or the STOCK Act. I commend Chairman 
Senator Lieberman and our ranking member, Senator Collins, for their 
leadership and the many members of the committee, Democratic and 
Republican, who made contributions to that process.
  Two things became clear during our hearings and markup. First, there 
was consensus that we should remove any uncertainty about the 
prohibition on insider trading. The second thing that became clear was 
that there was a significant bipartisan desire to avoid any unintended 
consequences as we sought to remove any uncertainty. We reported out 
the legislation because of widespread agreement on our goals, but their 
remained concerns about the means, and it was understood that we would 
attempt to address those concerns before this bill came to the floor. 
So a number of us have worked in the weeks since to make sure our goals 
and our means are in concert. The revised legislation, which will be 
before us, meets that objective. It should remove any uncertainty over 
the prohibition on insider trading, and it avoids unintended, harmful 
consequences that concerned some of us.
  I will point to two provisions that I believe are important to 
achieving those goals. The first reassures the American people that 
there are no barriers to prosecuting Members and employees of Congress 
for insider trading. It does so through language establishing that 
Members and employees of Congress have a duty arising from ``a 
relationship of trust and confidence''

[[Page S142]]

with the Congress, the government, and, most important, with the 
American people. Establishing such a duty removes any doubt as to 
whether insider trading prohibitions apply to Congress. It is also 
important that the bill language makes clear that in offering this new 
language, it does not in any way prevent enforcement of the anti-
insider trading provisions contained in current law. Again, I am 
confident that, under current law, Members of Congress and our staffs 
are prohibited from insider trading. This bill will ensure that the 
current prohibition is unambiguous and thereby strengthened.
  The second major provision of the legislation instructs the ethics 
committees of both Chambers to issue clear guidance to Members and 
staffs on the prohibition on profiting from inside information. This 
guidance will clarify that existing rules in both Chambers relative to 
gifts and conflicts of interest also prohibit the use of nonpublic 
information gained in the conduct of official duties for private 
profit.
  Finally, one other provision I will briefly mention, which is 
unrelated to insider trading but nonetheless an important step forward 
in terms of gaining the confidence of our constituents. As one of the 
originators of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, I am well aware of 
the value of transparency in government. The bill before us improves 
congressional transparency by requiring that personal financial 
disclosure filings required of Members and certain staff are made 
available electronically to the public. I commend Senators Begich and 
Tester for offering a measure that improves that transparent 
governance.

  Mr. President, it is important we pass this legislation, that we 
clarify and strengthen our rules and our laws and end any uncertainty 
about insider trading by Members of Congress. I hope we can promptly 
pass this legislation.
  Again, I commend our chairman and ranking member and all the members 
of our committee for the work they have put into this bill.
  I yield the floor.

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