Reasoning 2% Claims 56% Promise 20% Procedure 5% The ask 14% Positioning 3%
Structure · 32 steps
Claims · 12
This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.
Mr. President, Reasoning · 3 words integrity--integrity inspires confidence. Claims · 54 words We have a problem here in the Senate and in the House: 80 percent of Americans believe we do a poor job of keeping our financial interests separate from the insider information that we have.1 People don’t have the confidence in us, and that leads to an approval rating of 15 percent for Congress.2 Promise · 38 words But we can help restore integrity, and therefore confidence-- confidence in the Senate, confidence in the House, confidence in our institutions. We can do that with a bill that I have introduced called the Stop Insider Trading Act.3 Claims · 45 words Now, it is well known that Members of this body and the House have bought individual stocks. Unearned certainty In fact, we have seen that people will post on social media the stock trades of the former Speaker of the House and trade off of her trades.4 Procedure · 2 words In fact, Procedure Claims · 52 words as crazy as it sounds, that has become a legitimate investment strategy because it makes money. And that undermines the confidence people have in our institutions. We have disclosure laws, which is how people can see those trades and make them. But it is not enough for the integrity of the institution. Promise · 40 words We need to make the rules stronger. We need to stop people from being able to buy individual stocks in the Senate and in the House. We need my Stop Insider Trading Act because that is exactly what it does. Procedure · 3 words It says that, Procedure Claims · 35 words if you get elected to the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, you can no longer buy stock. Trading on insider information will become impossible because you won’t be able to make that purchase. Promise · 36 words Now, we also want to make sure that if, say, you come from a successful business, we don’t want to penalize you. We are not going to force you to sell your stock of your company. Claims · 94 words But we are going to say that you have to give notice, 7 days at least, to let people know if you are going to sell any positions you own.5 Remember, you can’t buy any more. But if you have some already and you want to sell them, you have to give 7 days’ notice. And that will address the issue of, for example, when we had a member of the Intelligence Committee sell about a million and a half dollars’ worth of stock right before the COVID pandemic selloff of the stock market.6 Reasoning · 15 words Even the perception of impropriety undermines the integrity, and therefore the confidence the people have. The ask · 44 words So let’s stop it altogether. Let’s ban people’s ability to use insider information to buy stocks and make sure, if they are going to sell any, that they have got to tell everybody well in advance so that Americans and the market can know. Claims · 19 words My bill also has real teeth in it. It is a $2,000 fine or 10 percent of the proceeds.7 Procedure · 29 words Let’s say you sell a million dollars in stock, and you didn’t tell the market ahead of time, like you were supposed to. You didn’t follow that 7-day rule. Procedure Claims · 25 words It is a $100,000 penalty--a 10-percent penalty. So either $2,000 or 10 percent, whichever is bigger, plus you have to give up all your profits. Positioning · 17 words That is a penalty with teeth that will get the attention of Members here on Capitol Hill. Positioning Promise · 20 words It is time that we restore the integrity and the confidence in this body when it comes to inside information. Claims · 9 words We, because of our position, have access to this, Promise · 7 words but we should not benefit from it. Claims · 53 words This is supposed to be public service. No one should come here seeking a profit. And yet, on Monday night, some of my colleagues tried to pass a unanimous consent, passing the Stop Insider Trader Act that the House of Representatives passed, 8 and Democrats blocked it.9 Democrats blocked my Stop Insider Trading Act, Positioning · 9 words which would have helped restore confidence in this body. Positioning The ask · 15 words It is time that we got the Democrats on board, that we get this passed. Claims · 45 words It passed in the House with Democrat support.10 And 13 Democrats and 2 Democratic cosponsors are on the Stop Insider Trading Act in the House, 11 which the House was able to pass. They have sent it here for the U.S. Senate--for us--to do our job.12 The ask · 14 words I call on my Democratic colleagues--my colleagues across the aisle: Please, get on board. Promise · 8 words We need to restore faith in the institution. Claims · 6 words A 15-percent approval rating is terrible. Promise · 12 words We need to restore the integrity. We need to restore the confidence. Claims · 8 words My Stop Insider Trading Act does just that. The ask · 37 words I encourage all of my colleagues to get on board this commonsense proposal to be able to restore integrity and confidence in the U.S. Senate and prevent insider trading from getting between us and the American people. Off point Procedure · 4 words I yield the floor. Procedure
At a glance
Lost points for Off point ×63 Procedure ×6 Positioning ×2 Unearned certainty Off topic None of this speech addressed the bill under debate and what it would change.
Switch Claims on to list the checkable claims here.
What the tags mean →
Signal · 90
8 of 72 deductions are Signal
Signal checks whether every part makes a point, gives a reason, or asks for action. A low score means the speaker filled time with fluff, pleasantries, or attacks.
Procedure Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business. What the tags mean → “In fact,” Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Procedure Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business. What the tags mean → “It says that,” Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Procedure Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business. What the tags mean → “Let’s say you sell a million dollars in stock,” Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Procedure Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business. What the tags mean → “and you didn’t tell the market ahead of time, like you were supposed to.” Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Procedure Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business. What the tags mean → “You didn’t follow that 7-day rule.” Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Positioning Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it. What the tags mean → “That is a penalty with teeth that will get the attention of Members here on Capitol Hill.” Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Positioning Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it. What the tags mean → “which would have helped restore confidence in this body.” Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Procedure Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business. What the tags mean → “I yield the floor.” Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Relevance · 0
63 of 72 deductions are Relevance
Relevance checks whether the speaker stays on topic and answers the question asked. A low score means the speaker dodged the issue. Measured against the bill under debate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “integrity--integrity inspires confidence.” Talks about integrity generally, not the Maxwell clemency resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We have a problem here in the Senate and in the House:” Pivots to a claimed congressional problem unrelated to the bill under debate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “80 percent of Americans believe we do a poor job of keeping our financial interests separate from the insider information that we have.” Offers a statistic about financial conflicts, a different topic from the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “People don’t have the confidence in us,” Continues the insider-trading theme instead of the bill under debate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “and that leads to an approval rating of 15 percent for Congress.” Discusses Congress’s approval rating, not the Maxwell resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “But we can help restore integrity,” Speaks of restoring institutional integrity, off the debate topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “and therefore confidence-- confidence in the Senate, confidence in the House, confidence in our institutions.” Still on restoring confidence in Congress, not the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We can do that with a bill that I have introduced called the Stop Insider Trading Act.” Introduces the speaker’s insider-trading bill in place of the bill under debate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Now, it is well known that Members of this body and the House have bought individual stocks.” Discusses Members buying stocks, unrelated to Maxwell clemency.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “In fact, we have seen that people will post on social media the stock trades of the former Speaker of the House and trade off of her trades.” Illustrates the stock-trading point, a different subject.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “In fact,” Connector continuing the off-topic trading discussion.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “as crazy as it sounds, that has become a legitimate investment strategy because it makes money.” Continues the copycat-trading point, not the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “And that undermines the confidence people have in our institutions.” Ties trading to confidence, still off the debate topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We have disclosure laws,” Discusses disclosure laws, unrelated to the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “which is how people can see those trades and make them.” Explains how trades are visible, continuing the off-topic point.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “But it is not enough for the integrity of the institution.” Argues disclosure is insufficient, not about Maxwell clemency.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We need to make the rules stronger.” Calls for stronger rules on stocks, a different measure.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We need to stop people from being able to buy individual stocks in the Senate and in the House.” Proposes banning individual stock purchases, off the debate topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We need my Stop Insider Trading Act because that is exactly what it does.” Promotes the speaker’s own bill instead of the resolution under debate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “It says that,” Begins describing the insider-trading bill’s terms.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “if you get elected to the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, you can no longer buy stock.” Details a stock-purchase ban, unrelated to Maxwell.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Trading on insider information will become impossible because you won’t be able to make that purchase.” Continues explaining the trading ban’s effect.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Now, we also want to make sure that if, say, you come from a successful business, we don’t want to penalize you.” Discusses exemptions for business owners in the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We are not going to force you to sell your stock of your company.” Clarifies the other bill would not force sales, off topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “But we are going to say that you have to give notice, 7 days at least, to let people know if you are going to sell any positions you own.” Describes the 7-day notice provision of the insider-trading bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Remember, you can’t buy any more.” Reiterates the buying prohibition in the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “But if you have some already and you want to sell them, you have to give 7 days’ notice.” Explains the selling-notice rule, unrelated to the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “And that will address the issue of, for example, when we had a member of the Intelligence Committee sell about a million and a half dollars’ worth of stock right before the COVID pandemic selloff of the stock market.” Gives a COVID stock-sale example, a different subject.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Even the perception of impropriety undermines the integrity,” Returns to the perception-of-impropriety theme, not Maxwell.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “and therefore the confidence the people have.” Links impropriety to confidence, off the debate topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “So let’s stop it altogether.” Calls for stopping stock trading, not addressing the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Let’s ban people’s ability to use insider information to buy stocks and make sure,” Advocates the trading ban, unrelated to Maxwell clemency.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “if they are going to sell any, that they have got to tell everybody well in advance so that Americans and the market can know.” Describes advance-notice selling rules of the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “My bill also has real teeth in it.” Touts penalties in the insider-trading bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “It is a $2,000 fine or 10 percent of the proceeds.” Details the fine amounts in the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Let’s say you sell a million dollars in stock,” Illustrates the penalty with a stock-sale example.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “and you didn’t tell the market ahead of time, like you were supposed to.” Continues the penalty illustration, off topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “You didn’t follow that 7-day rule.” References the 7-day rule of the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “It is a $100,000 penalty--a 10-percent penalty.” Gives the penalty figure for the insider-trading bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “So either $2,000 or 10 percent, whichever is bigger, plus you have to give up all your profits.” Summarizes the penalty provisions, not the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “That is a penalty with teeth that will get the attention of Members here on Capitol Hill.” Claims the penalty targets Members, off the debate topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “It is time that we restore the integrity and the confidence in this body when it comes to inside information.” Calls for restoring integrity regarding inside information.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We, because of our position, have access to this,” Discusses Members’ access to inside information.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “but we should not benefit from it.” Argues Members should not benefit from such access.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “This is supposed to be public service.” Frames service versus profit, unrelated to Maxwell.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “No one should come here seeking a profit.” Says no one should seek profit here, off topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “And yet, on Monday night, some of my colleagues tried to pass a unanimous consent, passing the Stop Insider Trader Act that the House of Representatives passed,” Recounts a failed unanimous consent on the insider-trading bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “and Democrats blocked it.” Blames Democrats for blocking the other bill, a political point in place of the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Democrats blocked my Stop Insider Trading Act,” Repeats the partisan claim about the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “which would have helped restore confidence in this body.” Touts the other bill’s confidence-restoring effect.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “It is time that we got the Democrats on board, that we get this passed.” Urges Democrats to pass the other bill, not the one under debate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “It passed in the House with Democrat support.” Cites House passage of the insider-trading bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “And 13 Democrats and 2 Democratic cosponsors are on the Stop Insider Trading Act in the House,” Counts Democratic cosponsors of the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “which the House was able to pass.” Repeats the House passage point, off topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “They have sent it here for the U.S. Senate--for us--to do our job.” Says the House sent the other bill to the Senate.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “I call on my Democratic colleagues--my colleagues across the aisle:” Addresses Democratic colleagues about the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “Please, get on board.” Urges them to get on board with the other bill.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We need to restore faith in the institution.” Ties passage to restoring faith, not the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “A 15-percent approval rating is terrible.” Cites the approval rating again, off the debate topic.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We need to restore the integrity.” Calls for restoring integrity generally.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “We need to restore the confidence.” Calls for restoring confidence generally.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “My Stop Insider Trading Act does just that.” Claims the speaker’s other bill does that, not the resolution.
Off point Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate. What the tags mean → “I encourage all of my colleagues to get on board this commonsense proposal to be able to restore integrity and confidence in the U.S. Senate and prevent insider trading from getting between us and the American people.” Closes by promoting the insider-trading proposal instead of the bill under debate.
Respect · no score
Not checked: graded before this measurement existed. Excluded from the average.
Respect checks whether the speaker argued with people’s positions and records rather than attacking the people: insults, mockery, or bad motives assigned to them. Criticism of what someone did, however strong, is not marked.
Clarity · 97
1 of 72 deductions are Clarity
Clarity checks for plain speaking, clear ownership of actions, and honest limits on certainty. A low score means vague promises or evasive language.
Unearned certainty Something stated as certain with nothing to back it. What the tags mean → “it is well known” The phrase substitutes common knowledge for a source for the claim about Members’ stock purchases.
Claims · 12
This list shows the factual statements you can check for yourself: the words as said, and the claim restated to stand on its own.
1 “80 percent of Americans believe we do a poor job of keeping our financial interests separate from the insider information that we have” 80 percent of Americans believe Congress does a poor job of keeping its financial interests separate from insider information. search 2 “an approval rating of 15 percent for Congress” Congress has a 15 percent approval rating. search 3 “a bill that I have introduced called the Stop Insider Trading Act” Senator Pete Ricketts has introduced a bill called the Stop Insider Trading Act. search 4 “people will post on social media the stock trades of the former Speaker of the House and trade off of her trades” People post on social media the stock trades of a former Speaker of the House and trade in imitation of them. search 5 “you have to give notice, 7 days at least, to let people know if you are going to sell any positions you own” The Stop Insider Trading Act requires Members to give at least 7 days’ notice before selling stock positions. search 6 “a member of the Intelligence Committee sell about a million and a half dollars’ worth of stock right before the COVID pandemic selloff of the stock market” A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee sold about $1.5 million worth of stock shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic stock market selloff. search 7 “a $2,000 fine or 10 percent of the proceeds” The Stop Insider Trading Act imposes a penalty of $2,000 or 10 percent of the proceeds for violations. search 8 “on Monday night, some of my colleagues tried to pass a unanimous consent, passing the Stop Insider Trader Act that the House of Representatives passed” On Monday night, Senators attempted to pass the House-passed Stop Insider Trading Act by unanimous consent. search 9 “Democrats blocked it” Democrats blocked the unanimous consent attempt to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act in the Senate. search 10 “It passed in the House with Democrat support” The Stop Insider Trading Act passed the House of Representatives with Democratic support. search 11 “13 Democrats and 2 Democratic cosponsors are on the Stop Insider Trading Act in the House” The House version of the Stop Insider Trading Act has 13 Democratic cosponsors plus 2 additional Democratic cosponsors. search 12 “They have sent it here for the U.S. Senate” The House has sent the Stop Insider Trading Act to the Senate. search
