[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17541-17542]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE STOCK ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Walz) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge and implore 
my colleagues to support the STOCK Act, the Stop Trading on 
Congressional Knowledge Act, and I ask also that Speaker Boehner bring 
this bill to the floor for a vote immediately.
  On Sunday night on CBS, their news program ``60 Minutes'' highlighted 
the potential problem of insider trading on Capitol Hill. Unlike all 
other Americans and investors, Members of Congress and their staff are 
not held legally responsible for profiting from nonpublic information 
they gain from their official position serving the public. This is 
absolutely outrageous and strikes at the heart of the democracy.
  When I first came to Congress and sat down with the author of this 
bill originally, Congressman Baird, and he started explaining to me 
what this was about, I, as most Americans, was shocked to believe it 
wasn't already a bill. Why would you allow the breach of trust of the 
American public to believe that their Member of Congress could 
potentially be trading on information to enrich themselves? It's not 
the point of, is it happening? The point is if the potential lies 
there.
  At the heart of every relationship is trust. If the trust is 
violated, everything that comes after that is a moot point. And this 
might be the greatest understatement ever: the American public is 
understandably frustrated with all the bickering and gridlock here. 
They don't trust institutions, they don't trust their banker, they 
don't trust corporations, and they don't trust Congress. If you thought 
we couldn't go any lower than a 9 percent approval rating, just have 
the people who watch ``60 Minutes'' vote now and see where they're at.
  This legislation is a very big step in the right direction. It's 
about restoring the faith and trust in Congress and the work of 
democracy. Ronald Reagan was right. We've heard about President Reagan 
several times today. Trust but verify. That's what this piece of 
legislation is about. We want to work with Speaker Boehner and get this 
bill moving. And let me tell you, it's very simple on what it does. The 
bill would prohibit insider trading on Capitol Hill. It will remove 
loopholes and any confusion about what's right, wrong, legal or 
illegal. No insider trading by Members of Congress and their staff, 
period. If you do it, you break the law and you will be held 
accountable. It's common sense.
  The STOCK Act would prohibit Members of Congress and Congressional 
staff from using nonpublic information obtained through their official 
duties for personal gain in the stocks in the commodities markets. It 
would also prohibit private individuals and firms who attempt to mine 
such information from public officials to use it for insider trading. 
Specifically, the bill is simple and short and says this: It requires 
that the SEC and the CFTC write rules that ban using congressional, 
nonpublic information to make trades. It changes the House ethics rules 
to specifically ban Members and staff from using nonpublic information 
to make trades. It changes House disclosure rules to require Members 
and staff who already file financial disclosures to disclose trades of 
$1,000 or more in a timely fashion, in addition to the annual 
disclosures. And it requires political intelligence firms to register 
like lobbyists. These are the people who come to the Hill and use their 
connections to talk to people, try and understand what piece of 
legislation is moving, what's the potential for a potential government 
contract, and then they go back and sell the information that's given 
to investors.
  That breach of trust, that potential to undermine our financial 
systems, is a cancer on the system. It weighs on the American public's 
trust of their finance, of corporations, of Congress and undermines the 
democracy. These people can still come here but register just like 
lobbyists.
  Let's make sure that transparency and the disinfectant of sunshine 
shines on this. There is no room in this institution for even the 
perception of wrongdoing. Every Member of Congress must be held to a 
higher standard. It doesn't infringe upon their rights to legally 
trade, it doesn't infringe upon their rights--their American rights--to 
work hard, be smart, make good investments, and profit from that. What 
it does prohibit is an unfair playing field that penalizes those that 
play by the rules. And like so many of my colleagues and millions of 
middle class Americans, I myself am a public school

[[Page 17542]]

teacher. I spent 24 years in the National Guard. I tried to do what was 
right by my family and my neighbors. I tried to play by the rules, with 
the great understanding that the American Dream was you play by the 
rules, you work hard, and you will benefit from that.
  This piece of legislation ensures that the American people know that 
we, as their representatives in this sacred House of the people, are 
playing by the exact same rules, not worrying about enriching 
ourselves, not worrying about gaming the system, and making sure that 
their needs are put first. And as I said, it's not whether it happens 
or not, it's whether the perception is there. I urge my colleagues and 
Speaker Boehner, move this to the floor and let's vote for it.

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