Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) speak about the ETHICS Act which would prohibit lawmakers from stock trading.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Making decisions that are in the best interest of the American public and are not in the
00:06interest of any personal finances and financial decisions that they make.
00:12So I'm pleased to announce today that we're going to be taking what I believe is a historic
00:16step forward on legislation that will ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
00:24Members Merkley, Hawley, Ossoff, and I have come to a bipartisan agreement on legislation.
00:31And as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I will be
00:35putting this legislation on our committee's next markup later this month, which right
00:41now is scheduled for July 24th.
00:45This will be the first time that a Senate committee is considering legislation to bar
00:51members from trading stocks.
00:53This bipartisan agreement is built off of Senator Merkley's Ethics Act and includes
01:01key provisions that will prohibit bad actors from being able to take advantage of their
01:06positions for personal financial gain.
01:10These provisions include barring members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President
01:17from buying and selling a range of stocks and financial assets, including securities,
01:23commodities, futures, options, trust, and other comparable holdings.
01:30We also will require federal elected officials, their spouses, and dependent children to divest
01:37of any of the banned assets beginning in 2027.
01:43It will also increase the fines for violations of the Stock Act to $500 each violation.
01:51And it will also, for the divestment of assets, any members who do not divest assets will
01:57also have penalties associated with that.
02:00I'm certainly grateful to Senators Merkley, Hawley, and Ossoff for their leadership on
02:06this issue and for working with me on this common sense bipartisan agreement that strengthens
02:13accountability for the public and gives Americans the peace of mind that Congress is always
02:19working on their behalf.
02:21And I'm committed to passing this bill through my committee with the help of two of my colleagues
02:26here, Senators Hawley and Ossoff, who are members of the Homeland Security Committee.
02:31And we look forward to moving it out of committee and making it one step closer to becoming
02:37law.
02:38And by taking this historic action, I hope we help to build Americans' trust in government
02:44and give them full assurance that the men and women who serve here are always taking
02:49their interest first and foremost.
02:51I'd like now to turn over the podium to Senator Merkley.
02:59Senator Peters, thank you so much for your leadership in bringing us to this point.
03:03We've been a long time getting there.
03:05It's some 12 years now since Senator Brown and I introduced an amendment and had a vote
03:09on an amendment to ban stock trading back in 2012.
03:13That amendment did not pass, and we've been working to take on this challenge ever since.
03:18And my colleagues, Senator Hawley and Senator Ossoff, have both been significant contributors
03:24to this conversation, dwelling in the minutia of various bills, trying to resolve the factors
03:30to find a path forward to take on this egregious practice.
03:36And when I say it's egregious, let me just say it's corrupt in two significant ways.
03:43The first is we must be here to serve the public, not our portfolios.
03:50Americans are well aware that time after time the portfolios of members of Congress do better
03:56than the S&P 500.
03:57There's even investment funds that mimic the investments of members of Congress because
04:02of this phenomenon.
04:03So people are aware that Senators and House members are benefiting from privileged information,
04:09information they may get a little earlier than the rest of the world, and they do not
04:13like this.
04:14But even more importantly is the conflict of interest, the idea that you own a portfolio
04:20that concentrates in fossil fuels or renewable energy or bank stocks or pharmaceuticals and
04:28you are writing legislation, preparing amendments, or voting on bills that affect those investments.
04:35Again, we must be here to serve the public, not our portfolio.
04:40And the American people agree.
04:42In a poll last year by the University of Maryland, a national poll, more than 85 percent
04:47of Democrats, more than 85 percent of Republicans agreed that we should ban stock trading.
04:54When do you get nearly nine out of ten members of both parties to agree that something should
05:00happen?
05:01That's how deeply Americans understand this practice needs to come to an end.
05:07But the practice is still rampant.
05:10Members of Congress made 11,500-plus trades last year.
05:15They traded about a billion dollars' worth in stock.
05:19So it is very present, and we've had scandal over scandal during the 12 years that we've
05:24been working on this issue.
05:27You know, at this time, when we're concerned about the integrity of our institutions and
05:32many of us are talking about reforms that should happen in other branches, including
05:37the Supreme Court, let us think about the reforms that need to happen right here at
05:42home.
05:43We should set the example.
05:45We need to end stock trading, and we need to do it this Congress.
05:52Thank you.
05:53And now I'm pleased to introduce Senator Hawley, who, as I mentioned, has got into the details,
05:57has prepared his own legislation in the past, and has come together on this unified approach
06:02to get a bill through committee and prepare it for the floor.
06:05Thank you.
06:06Thank you, Jeff.
06:07Well, thanks to all of my colleagues.
06:09Thanks to Senator Merkley for his long leadership on this.
06:11Thanks to Senator Ossoff, who I've worked with on this in the past.
06:15But I particularly want to thank Senator Peters, because Senator Peters has had the unfortunate
06:20task of dealing with me for the last 10 months on this issue.
06:24And really, I want to thank Gary for working, in some cases literally around the clock,
06:31to reach an agreement on this that will be tough, that will close the loopholes, that
06:36will close the avenues of avoidance, that will impose real penalties.
06:41The truth is Congress should not be here to make a buck.
06:44Congress should be here to serve the American people.
06:47There is no reason why members of Congress ought to be profiting off of the information
06:51that only they get, that the rest of the American people don't get.
06:55And I don't care, even if you don't have so-called insider information or information not available
06:58to the public, why should members of Congress be spending their time day trading rather
07:03than focusing on the priorities that the American people sent us here to achieve and
07:07focus on?
07:08I mean, it's really simple, and you don't have to explain it to anybody in America.
07:12The only people you have to explain it to are here in this building.
07:15The only people who don't seem to understand why stock trading should be banned are here
07:20in the Capitol.
07:22Every American gets it, and they're right to get it.
07:25There is no reason why the personal profit of members of Congress should come first.
07:29It should come last.
07:30It shouldn't be a consideration at all.
07:32And I'm proud to say I think this bill takes a giant step forward to getting to that place.
07:36I think it's a tough bill.
07:37I think it's a serious bill.
07:39And I'm proud of the fact that it's going to be voted on in Senator Peter's committee,
07:43and I look forward to voting for it.
07:45I hope that we can make sure that it stays good and strong, and we'll be able to do something
07:50here meaningful on this issue for the first time ever.
07:53So thanks again to all of my colleagues for their leadership on this, and I look forward
07:57to having this vote in committee really soon.
08:00Thank you.
08:02And I get the privilege of introducing the man who's the youngest member of the United
08:05States Senate, Senator Alsop.
08:07Thank you.
08:08Well, thank you all for joining us.
08:12Thanks to Chairman Peters for his leadership in helping us to navigate this negotiation.
08:19Thank you to Senator Merkley for his long commitment to this necessary ethics reform.
08:23Thank you, Senator Hawley, for your contributions and your passion.
08:29This is a historic moment in efforts to reform the ethics laws that govern Congress.
08:36And across the state of Georgia, Democrats, independents, Republicans, overwhelmingly
08:43agree that members of Congress should not be playing the stock market while we legislate
08:49and while we have access to confidential and privileged information.
08:53This is long overdue.
08:56This is necessary.
08:58That is why, as I pledged I would when running for the Senate upon entering office, I introduced
09:04with Senator Kelly the Banned Congressional Stock Trading Act.
09:07That's why I've been pleased to engage in this long and productive bipartisan effort
09:14to craft a path forward.
09:17And we're now in a position with Chairman Peters' leadership to bring this to the Homeland
09:22Security Committee.
09:24Again, this is long overdue.
09:27This is necessary, and this is a major step forward to have agreed a bipartisan path to
09:33ban stock trading by members of Congress.
09:37Chairman, we look forward to the markup in the committee, appreciate your leadership,
09:42and I know that Georgians of every political persuasion in every part of the state will
09:47be pleased to hear that we are making progress as promised tackling this issue.
09:52Thank you all so much.
09:54Thank you, Senator Ossoff.