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Seth Magaziner

Democrat 2:50 p.m.

“I don't like this bill. It has some stock restrictions but not a full ban. I think the other side is trying to trick us. They want to pass a bad bill and pretend it's good. I want my bill instead. My bill would ban all stock trades by politicians. I tried to change this bill to be like my bill instead. I think many people agree with me.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for his leadership and partnership. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are pushing a voter suppression bill that would severely restrict the mail ballots that seniors, rural Americans, and so many others rely on, and would throw our elections into chaos late in the cycle while people are already casting their ballots. They are doing this at the behest of Donald Trump, who continues to obsess over his 2020 election loss and promote election conspiracy theories. They are trying to trick us into supporting their voter suppression bill by calling it the Stop Insider Trading Act and including watered down language that would still allow Members of Congress to own stocks and to trade stocks with only some new restrictions. Make no mistake, this is a trap. This bill is to make it harder for eligible Americans to vote. The Republican leadership is trying to trick us into supporting it by calling it a congressional stock trading ban, even though it doesn't actually fully ban congressional stock trading. This bill also does nothing to stop the biggest stock trader in Washington, President Trump, who has made millions of dollars trading stocks for the companies that he regulates--tech companies, healthcare companies, defense companies, and more. The American people are sick of corruption. The American people are sick of politicians getting rich off of inside information while working people struggle. The American people want a real stock trading ban for politicians in Washington. Last year, I worked with reformers on both sides of the aisle, including Mr. Roy, whose partnership I very much appreciated. Republicans and Democrats wrote a strong bill that will actually ban congressional stock trading with no loopholes and no gimmicks. That is what the American people want. Mr. Speaker, for this reason and at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules permitted it, I would have offered that motion with an important amendment to this bill. My amendment would replace this Republican voter suppression bill with the Restore Trust in Government Act, our bill to fully ban stock trading in Congress and the Oval Office. Mr. Speaker, 190 Members have signed on to support this bill, and it is time to bring it to the floor. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record immediately prior to the motion to recommit. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. DesJarlais). Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Rhode Island? There was no objection.

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Zachary Nunn

Republican 3:00 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. It would stop politicians from trading stocks. I think politicians should not get rich while they serve. Some politicians made a lot of money from stocks. I think that's bad. I sold my stocks when I came to Congress. I think we need rules to stop this. My party is trying to pass a bill to stop it. I want you to watch who votes yes and who votes no.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Steil for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I think there are now 200 million good reasons to vote for this bill, because that is exactly how much Members of Congress made in trading stock, most of it insider information contributing to their $200 million in take home. Now, here is the reality. Most Members of Congress are not trading stock on the job. Most of them are not day traders. They are in their districts. The reality is true; 35 Members of Congress beat the S&P 500 last year. As my colleague on the other side of the aisle just highlighted, one of the biggest stock trader wins in this is an app called Autopilot that tracks the trades of Nancy Pelosi and her husband. In the last 3 years alone, their stock trades have gone up more than 200 percent. Nobody believes that this is just Washington being smarter than Wall Street. Everyone recognizes that somebody here is getting ahead while the rest of America is falling behind. Let's talk about real solutions to hold Members accountable. Republicans wish to end insider trading happening in Washington, and it starts by legislation that Republicans are leading today. One of the first bills that I led on the floor was to make sure that we could stop this level of stock trading. When I came to Congress, I had very little stock to begin with--with 20 years serving in the military--but I sold it all because I think it is important that Members of Congress prioritize oversight and prioritize their constituents, not get rich while serving. For the first time, there is a bill before us that bans congressional stock trading, and it has reached the House floor with a lot of hard work on both sides of the aisle. To my colleagues back in Iowa, watch this vote. Watch who talks about ending stock trading and who delivers on ending stock trading. Watch who is committed beyond the rhetoric to holding Washington accountable. Together, Republicans are working to clean up Congress and working to secure our elections. These are two easy votes on the floor today. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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Michael Lawler

Republican 3:00 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. It would stop politicians from trading stocks. I think politicians should not get rich while they serve. Some politicians made a lot of money from stocks. I think that's bad. I want you to watch who votes yes and who votes no. I want people to trust the government. Insider trading by politicians is bad. It makes people lose trust. I want to stop it.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7008, the Stop Insider Trading Act, to end stock trading by Members of Congress, because trust in our democracy cannot be a luxury item. It must be the everyday expectation of every American. For too long, the public has watched the headlines that read like a civic lesson gone wrong: elected officials buying and selling stocks in industries they regulate, profiting from information the public will never see. That is not merely unseemly, it is corrosive. It eats away at confidence in this institution, and confidence once lost is not easily rebuilt. Banning congressional stock trading is a simple proposition. If someone serves the public, they serve only the public. They don't get to play the market with one hand while writing the rules with the other. They don't get to benefit from the power the people have loaned them. This reform is about fairness--for the teacher saving for retirement, the nurse investing in her future, the small business owner trying to build something that lasts. They play by the rules. They deserve a Congress that does the same. Mr. Speaker, this is our chance to say clearly: Public service is a public trust. Let us honor it. The fact is this bill bans stock trading. And, yes, it requires photo ID, something 80 percent of Americans agree with. People just saw what came out yesterday by one of our former colleagues, the Governor of New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, announcing that 6,600 non-U.S. citizens were added to the voter rolls in New Jersey and nearly 400 of them voted in the election. Voter ID ensures the sanctity of our elections and ensures confidence by the American people in our elections. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we pass this legislation, and the American people should watch how every single Member votes on this bill.

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Joseph D. Morelle

Democrat 3:00 p.m.

“I don't like this bill. It does two things. I don't think it should pass. It doesn't stop politicians from trading stocks. It lets them keep their stocks. It lets the President trade stocks too. I don't like that. It also makes it harder to vote. It is worse than Texas and Florida. It would change voting 90 days before an election. That's bad. I think it will mess up the election. I think that's the point. I want the bill to fail.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I will close by saying this. The bill before us is a crude combination of two completely unrelated bills--the so-called Stop Insider Trading Act and the Voter ID Act. The Voter ID Act is, of course, already a crude reformulation of the SAVE America Act. I have addressed both parts of the bill individually. Neither of them deserves passage. Frankly, neither of them deserves much serious debate. The first, the so-called Stop Insider Trading Act, is not a stock trading ban. Despite what everyone has said today, it simply is not. Get the bill. Download it. Read it. It doesn't require people to sell stock that they own. The bill is a vote to allow Members of Congress to continue to own and trade individual stocks. I don't know how to be clearer than that. The bill would let Members of Congress keep every single share of stock they own. The bill would allow Members to liquidate their holdings at any time, obviously when it is profitable for them. There is no divestiture required in this bill. The bill does nothing to rein in the unprecedented, absurd, and deeply offensive corruption currently taking place in the White House. The bill is silent on the President. I would note again that so far this year, the President has traded more securities than the entire Congress combined, all 535 Members of the House and Senate. Does anyone believe for a minute that the President has less influence on the markets than individual Members of Congress? Judge that for yourself. Then there is the second fully distinct part of this bill: voter suppression provisions taken right from the SAVE America Act. House Democrats support voter identification. Democrats have included responsible ID provisions in the Freedom to Vote Act and have offered amendments at committee making this point crystal clear. The bill before us, however, would create a more restrictive regime than any currently in use in this country. It is more restrictive than Florida and more restrictive than Texas. The bill would eviscerate mail voting as we know it, forcing voters to include photocopies of their ID every time they mail a ballot. This measure is so extreme the Republican Governor of Ohio, Governor DeWine, vetoed a similar statewide measure because it would burden voters without preventing fraud. This bill would throw our elections into chaos, the effective date being October 20 of 2026, 90 days from today, right in the middle of this midterm election. In 90 days, tens of millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots by person and by mail. This bill would upend the November midterms, and that is exactly the point. That is exactly the goal. I urge my colleagues to oppose this rehash again of the President's top legislative priority: the SAVE Act. I urge its defeat. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Bryan Steil

Republican 3:00 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. It has two parts. The first part stops politicians from using secret information to make money. No stocks for them or their families. If they break the rule, they pay a big fine. The second part makes people show ID to vote. Some states already do that. This bill makes it the same everywhere. I think this is good. It will help people trust Congress. I want people to trust us. Let's pass this bill.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, as we close out today, I begin by thanking leadership for giving us this opportunity. Congress has not had a bill on the House floor on this topic with this opportunity before. I thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise, Whip Emmer for their work on this. I also thank the Members of this body who have doggedly worked on this issue, in particular Congressman Chip Roy, as well as Brian Fitzpatrick, Tim Burchett, Anna Paulina Luna, and others for their feedback and work throughout the process to get to this point. Before us is the Stop Insider Trading Act. Mr. Speaker, I will touch on a handful of things that came up today about what is in and what is not in the bill. I think this is important for the American people to know. Some of the arguments made today are what I call a Goldilocks argument: The bill doesn't do enough. The bill does too much. Let's take this moment to take a real and substantive step forward. I will begin as I close by discussing what is in the bill. The bill ensures that Members and lawmakers cannot use their positions to profit off of insider information. Mr. Speaker, insider trading is already illegal, and individuals who engage in it should be held accountable by the full force of the law. However, as we know, prosecuting insider trading is actually quite difficult. It is why this bill is so important to provide a bright-line rule to remove even the appearance of impropriety that someone has leveraged their position for financial gain. Under this bill, Members, their spouses, and their dependent children are prevented from purchasing individual companies' shares of stock, period, full stop. The question then becomes: What if a Member arrives in Congress with stock in their portfolio? Say they are saving up for their retirement or their children's college education. We provide an opportunity with 7 days advance notice to be able to make that sale. That 7 days of advance notice tells the American people what is going on in advance rather than current law, which allows a 30-day filing after the fact. This prevents Members from being able to profit off of any insider information they may gain in this institution. Mr. Speaker, the violations and penalties associated with this bill are steep: a fine equal to $2,000 or 10 percent of the transaction, as well as a disgorgement of profits. Violators would be forfeiting any gain realized if they fail to comply with this legislation. The legislation is critical in restoring trust in this institution. One of the challenges we face is that this institution 15 years ago passed the STOCK Act, publicly disclosing any trade a Member of this institution makes. However, the disclosure rules lack detail and are filed a month after the transaction. When you couple that with the increased attention to Member trades, in particular, through social media accounts, it has fueled public frustration. I believe this is our opportunity where we can simply stop Members of Congress from trading individual stocks, period, full stop. Doing so removes even the appearance of wrongdoing. Americans should be confident that individuals working here are working on their behalf, not on behalf of their own financial interests. This bill is coupled with the Voter ID Act. In jurisdictions across this country, States that neighbor mine, like Illinois or Minnesota, or as far away as California or New York, voters can go to the polls on election day and cast a ballot without providing proof of their identity. Our Voter ID Act implements commonsense election integrity measures by requiring voters to show photo ID when casting a ballot in Federal elections. Mr. Speaker, 24 States already require some form of photo ID to vote. The bill simply takes this standard and makes it nationwide. Both of these provisions are commonsense reforms, but, in particular, the Stop Insider Trading Act is a moment when we can take a tremendous step forward in the ethics here in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, and in this institution. At a period of time when Americans are struggling to gain confidence in Congress, this legislation before us gives us that opportunity to begin restoring the trust. Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues in this body today to vote in favor of the legislation before us, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Recent debates

Stop Insider Trading Act

Seth Magaziner

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