“I want this bill to pass. It will ban Congress from using their power to get rich in stocks. It will require people to show ID when they vote. Lots of things need ID. Banks, airplanes, and the Democratic Party need ID. Voting is important. 83 percent of Americans want voter ID. 71 percent of Democrats want voter ID. This bill will help people trust our government. The House passed this bill. Republicans and some Democrats voted for it. The Senate should pass this bill too.”
“I like this bill. It bans Congress from using their power to get rich in stocks. It requires people to show ID when they vote. The House passed this bill in a bipartisan way. I want the Senate to pass it too. I hope the other side agrees with us. Then we can send it to the President.”
“I want people to trust Congress. Most Americans think we use our power to get rich. That's bad. We should pass this bill. It bans Congress from using their power to get rich in stocks. It has strong penalties if they break the rules. People in Congress should serve the public. They should not use their power to make money. This bill will help people trust us again.”
“You try to ban insider trading for Congress. But you don't ban it for the President. The last President traded stocks a lot. He even sold inside information for money. Your bill has parts in it that are not about stock trading. They are about making it harder to vote. You try to make it look like you fight corruption. But really you want to make it hard for some people to vote. We already have a bill to stop insider trading. It is honest and bipartisan. Vote on that bill instead. Let's pass a real law. Not your bill with poison pills.”
“I want to clear up some things. I sponsored a different bill called the PELOSI Act. It is similar to the HONEST Act. I did not sponsor the HONEST Act. It would be insane to ban ownership of all assets. Democrats tried to make us vote on a bill we had not read. That is insane. We could pass the PELOSI Act today. It would ban insider trading. It is a good bill. It applies to all Members of Congress. We should be able to ban insider trading without Democrats blocking the vote.”
“You said Republicans are not united on voter ID. That is false. 53 out of 53 Republicans voted for a voter ID bill. That is 100 percent. Democrats all voted against it. Democrats don't want voter ID. I object to your request. We could pass my bills on insider trading and voter ID. But you don't want to. You object. You don't do what people want.”
“I want the Stop Insider Trading Act and voter ID to pass with unanimous consent. That means all 100 Senators agree. It is about integrity. Eighty percent of Americans don't believe we separate our inside information from our financial interests. We have a 15 percent approval rating. We need to restore integrity and confidence. My colleague from California objected. I offer an alternative to schedule a vote at a 60-vote threshold. I want to pass this bill.”
“Don't believe what my colleague from Ohio said. Look up S. 1498 yourself. You will see that Senator Moreno is a cosponsor. It does not ban mutual fund investments. That is the truth. I object to the request. I offer a counterproposal. Let the majority leader and Democratic leader determine when we vote on S.1498. The committee substitute should be agreed to. It needs 60 votes to pass.”
“The bill my colleagues proposed already passed the House with bipartisan support. If we pass it here, it can become law quickly. It would ban insider trading and require voter ID. That is what most Americans want. The other bill they talk about is not serious. It has not passed the House. It is just for show. I object to their request. They should stop playing games.”
“I want this bill to pass. It would ban insider trading and require voter ID. Most Americans want that. I don't understand why Democrats oppose it. They must benefit from people voting illegally. We should stay here and debate this until it passes. It should only take a simple majority to pass, not 60 votes. We are the cavalry, there are no house elves to fix this for us. We should not go on a 6-week recess with this undone. The American people deserve better.”
