Discussion · Senate
Jeff Merkley Democrat
“I want the Senate to pass the ETHICS Act. It bans members of Congress, the president, the vice president, and their families from buying, selling, or holding individual stocks. Lawmakers should not be voting on laws to help their own stock portfolios.”
“Madam President, congressional stock trading is profoundly corrupt. We in this Chamber were elected to serve the public, not our portfolio. But what do the American people see? They see Senators and Representatives who are thinking about their portfolios when they are voting on different measures, including a whole lot of tax credits and tax deductions. They are both different elements. If someone in this Chamber is sitting on a significant holding--let’s say renewable energy stocks--they might be thinking about: I want to promote those stocks, rather than ask the question: Is this the right move for America? What if they are sitting on fossil fuel stocks or oil stocks or maybe Wall Street stocks and they are thinking, ``I want to give a big break to the banking community on Wall Street to inflate my personal wealth’’? That is just absolutely wrong. It is a massive conflict of interest. About now, 14 years ago, Senator Sherrod Brown and I introduced the idea that we should end this stock trading, and that means buying, that means selling, and that means holding. It has been a while to build the momentum on this, but even the President of the United States, in his last State of the Union, said we should attack this problem. And the American people see that, while Members here are thinking about their portfolios--trying to make themselves richer, corrupting their votes on the issues before us--they are suffering. Instead of thinking about your stock portfolio, maybe you should be thinking about the price of gas at the pump, maybe thinking about the cost of diesel and fertilizer for our farmers, maybe thinking about a war of choice--an unconstitutional war of choice--that is spending more than $1 billion a day. Maybe we should be thinking about the fact that we have the most expensive healthcare system that delivers the least effective healthcare for a person in the developed world, and maybe we need to improve it. Maybe we need to think about the fact that the career technical programs in other developed programs--other developed countries--are pretty good and maybe ours should be better. Maybe we should think about the fact that college debt is a millstone around the neck of our children, when children in other countries are able to go to college debt free. Maybe we should care about families instead of thinking about our portfolios. The American people see Congress--the House and Senate Members--and the President of the United States cashing in on stock trades. The President of the United States actually invested in stocks before announcing big agreements for major companies--buying Dell stock before a major announcement, buying Nvidia stock before a major announcement. Come on. This is massively corrupt, and we should be ending it. So let’s end it. Entry-level employees and executive branch Agencies are required to recuse themselves from conflicts of interest, but Senators and Representatives think it is just fine to get rich on conflicts of interest and corrupt their representation of the public. That is why we need the ETHICS Act, which would ban Members of Congress and their spouses, their dependents, and the President and the Vice President and their dependents from owning, trading, or holding individual stocks. If they want to invest in America, invest in a broad-based mutual fund that has establishment in all of these industries at once, like the S&P 500 fund. Members of Congress should be banned from making new trades, and Members of Congress will have to divest their holdings or move them to mutual funds. There is so much corruption that we need to tackle--banning crypto corruption; banning funding for Trump’s gold-plated, billion-dollar boondoggle; stopping insider trading on prediction markets; implementing a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court; outlawing the taxpayer-funded ``cash for cronies’’ slush funds, like the President arranged with his $1.8 billion fund when he sued himself to award himself $1.8 billion of money; banning Members of Congress to have a longer period before they serve as lobbyists; and more. But Congress can lead by example. Right now, let’s pass the ETHICS Act. Now, some may say: Well, wait. Isn’t there this bill coming from the House? That House bill leaves people holding the very portfolios that we have to get rid of. It preserves the conflicts of interest. That is pretty damn weak tea--keeping the corruption and legitimizing it--and, meanwhile, throwing in an extra measure on the bill that proceeds to engage in the effort to rig the November election. Wow, well, that is certainly not a serious effort to address this corruption. But the ETHICS Act, it is that serious effort. Let’s pass it. Let’s ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. Let’s make it clear to every American that we are here to serve the people, not our portfolios Madam President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the bill at the desk, the ETHICS Act; further, that the bill be considered read three times and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.”
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Speech in the House
Reasoning 100 of 100
This statement drew 8 conclusions and gave a reason for each one.
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Madam President, congressional stock trading is profoundly corrupt. We in this Chamber were elected to serve the public, not our portfolio. But what do the American people see? They see Senators and Representatives who are thinking about their portfolios when they are voting on different measures, including a whole lot of tax credits and tax deductions. They are both different elements. If someone in this Chamber is sitting on a significant holding--let’s say renewable energy stocks--they might be thinking about: I want to promote those stocks, rather than ask the question: Is this the right move for America? What if they are sitting on fossil fuel stocks or oil stocks or maybe Wall Street stocks and they are thinking, ``I want to give a big break to the banking community on Wall Street to inflate my personal wealth’’? That is just absolutely wrong. It is a massive conflict of interest. About now, 14 years ago, Senator Sherrod Brown and I introduced the idea that we should end this stock trading, and that means buying, that means selling, and that means holding. It has been a while to build the momentum on this, but even the President of the United States, in his last State of the Union, said we should attack this problem. And the American people see that, while Members here are thinking about their portfolios--trying to make themselves richer, corrupting their votes on the issues before us--they are suffering. Instead of thinking about your stock portfolio, maybe you should be thinking about the price of gas at the pump, maybe thinking about the cost of diesel and fertilizer for our farmers, maybe thinking about a war of choice--an unconstitutional war of choice--that is spending more than $1 billion a day. Maybe we should be thinking about the fact that we have the most expensive healthcare system that delivers the least effective healthcare for a person in the developed world, and maybe we need to improve it. Maybe we need to think about the fact that the career technical programs in other developed programs--other developed countries--are pretty good and maybe ours should be better. Maybe we should think about the fact that college debt is a millstone around the neck of our children, when children in other countries are able to go to college debt free. Maybe we should care about families instead of thinking about our portfolios. The American people see Congress--the House and Senate Members--and the President of the United States cashing in on stock trades. The President of the United States actually invested in stocks before announcing big agreements for major companies--buying Dell stock before a major announcement, buying Nvidia stock before a major announcement. Come on. This is massively corrupt, and we should be ending it. So let’s end it. Entry-level employees and executive branch Agencies are required to recuse themselves from conflicts of interest, but Senators and Representatives think it is just fine to get rich on conflicts of interest and corrupt their representation of the public. That is why we need the ETHICS Act, which would ban Members of Congress and their spouses, their dependents, and the President and the Vice President and their dependents from owning, trading, or holding individual stocks. If they want to invest in America, invest in a broad-based mutual fund that has establishment in all of these industries at once, like the S&P 500 fund. Members of Congress should be banned from making new trades, and Members of Congress will have to divest their holdings or move them to mutual funds. There is so much corruption that we need to tackle--banning crypto corruption; banning funding for Trump’s gold-plated, billion-dollar boondoggle; stopping insider trading on prediction markets; implementing a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court; outlawing the taxpayer-funded ``cash for cronies’’ slush funds, like the President arranged with his $1.8 billion fund when he sued himself to award himself $1.8 billion of money; banning Members of Congress to have a longer period before they serve as lobbyists; and more. But Congress can lead by example. Right now, let’s pass the ETHICS Act. Now, some may say: Well, wait. Isn’t there this bill coming from the House? That House bill leaves people holding the very portfolios that we have to get rid of. It preserves the conflicts of interest. That is pretty damn weak tea--keeping the corruption and legitimizing it--and, meanwhile, throwing in an extra measure on the bill that proceeds to engage in the effort to rig the November election. Wow, well, that is certainly not a serious effort to address this corruption. But the ETHICS Act, it is that serious effort. Let’s pass it. Let’s ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. Let’s make it clear to every American that we are here to serve the people, not our portfolios Madam President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the bill at the desk, the ETHICS Act; further, that the bill be considered read three times and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.