Chris Van Hollen, MD
“I oppose this bill. I want to ban lawmakers from trading stocks, but this bill is too weak and leaves big loopholes. It also adds unrelated rules that make it harder for people to vote.”
“Mr. President, I want to be clear: We should ban congressional stock trading. But H.R. 7008, the so-called Stop Insider Trading Act, is a political scam. It is a disingenuous attempt to use figleaf new ethics rules to pass a sweeping, unrelated voter suppression law, while not even adequately addressing congressional stock trading. Americans are rightly concerned that lawmakers’ stock portfolios can create conflicts of interest and opportunities to cash in on inside information. But instead of resolving those issues, this bill creates superficial changes to ethics standards while undermining the right to vote. Americans will not be fooled by this charade. It is long past time that we gave Americans confidence that lawmakers are not profiting from positions of public trust. That is why we should impose a real and effective ban on congressional stock trading. This bill, however, fails to clean up these ethics issues. For example, it would allow Members of Congress to sell stock during their term in office, transactions that could appear to be based on nonpublic information, like a heads up that a company would face regulatory action. It also would permit members to own stock in industries they oversee through their committee assignments. Loopholes like these create too many opportunities for corruption and self-dealing. And under the pretext of cleaning up Congress, this legislation would enact photo voter ID requirements like those in the so-called SAVE America Act, making it harder for Americans to exercise their right to vote. Specifically, the bill would require voters to present one form of ID from an overly restrictive list of identification documents in order to vote, excluding other reliable forms of ID such as a student ID, which would disproportionately harm eligible young voters and communities of color. It also imposes onerous new requirements on vote by mail. Congress should not be creating more unnecessary barriers for eligible voters to exercise their foundational right to have their voices heard and votes counted in our elections. The Senate should be passing a genuine ban on stock trading by lawmakers. But I cannot support this bill, which is clearly just another attempt by Republicans in Congress to pick their voters--which have repeatedly failed--under the guise of ethics reform. I remain committed to working with my colleagues on real legislation to clean up these ethics concerns.”
Mr. President, I want to be clear: We should ban congressional stock trading. But H.R. 7008, the so-called Stop Insider Trading Act, is a political scam. It is a disingenuous attempt to use figleaf new ethics rules to pass a sweeping, unrelated voter suppression law, while not even adequately addressing congressional stock trading. Americans are rightly concerned that lawmakers’ stock portfolios can create conflicts of interest and opportunities to cash in on inside information. But instead of resolving those issues, this bill creates superficial changes to ethics standards while undermining the right to vote. Americans will not be fooled by this charade. It is long past time that we gave Americans confidence that lawmakers are not profiting from positions of public trust. That is why we should impose a real and effective ban on congressional stock trading. This bill, however, fails to clean up these ethics issues. For example, it would allow Members of Congress to sell stock during their term in office, transactions that could appear to be based on nonpublic information, like a heads up that a company would face regulatory action. It also would permit members to own stock in industries they oversee through their committee assignments. Loopholes like these create too many opportunities for corruption and self-dealing. And under the pretext of cleaning up Congress, this legislation would enact photo voter ID requirements like those in the so-called SAVE America Act, making it harder for Americans to exercise their right to vote. Specifically, the bill would require voters to present one form of ID from an overly restrictive list of identification documents in order to vote, excluding other reliable forms of ID such as a student ID, which would disproportionately harm eligible young voters and communities of color. It also imposes onerous new requirements on vote by mail. Congress should not be creating more unnecessary barriers for eligible voters to exercise their foundational right to have their voices heard and votes counted in our elections. The Senate should be passing a genuine ban on stock trading by lawmakers. But I cannot support this bill, which is clearly just another attempt by Republicans in Congress to pick their voters--which have repeatedly failed--under the guise of ethics reform. I remain committed to working with my colleagues on real legislation to clean up these ethics concerns.