We must do everything we can to restore the American people’s faith in our institutions. That starts with making sure that no one can abuse their position in Congress to make huge profits from the stock market.
It's why Alexandria has worked with her colleagues for years to ban members of Congress from trading individual stock. She along with Reps. Krishnamoorthi and Neguse and Senator Merkley introduced a bill three years ago to ban stock trading because members of Congress should not be able to use privileged information to buy and trade individual stocks that they know will perform well.
The Ban Conflicted Trading Act has been gaining traction – and last week, Alexandria and her colleagues officially added an amendment to also prohibit member’s spouses, senior staff, and members serving on corporate boards from trading stocks as well.
The fact is, members of Congress and their ability to trade stocks is a direct conflict of interest. Members have access to briefings that require security clearances and enormous amounts of nonpublic information that can be used to buy or sell stocks.
Members then proceed to vote on key pieces of legislation while taking their own market interests into consideration.
This bill is about holding ourselves to a higher standard, and ensuring that Americans don’t have to worry about their interests competing with their member of Congress’ stock portfolio. Now is the time to bring this bill to the House floor for a vote.
Alexandria never shies away from fighting for what is right. She won’t stop until this bill is passed and will continue to advocate for integrity and fairness in Congress.
Thank you,
Team AOC
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