FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Damon Effingham, RepresentUs Director of Federal Reform, 410-310-0737, deffingham@represent.us
Ross Sherman, RepresentUs PR Strategist, 207-749-2660, rsherman@represent.us
WASHINGTON – The Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing Thursday to discuss reforms to Congress’s stock trading policy. The hearing comes in response to numerous investigations showing that existing law, most notably the STOCK Act, is routinely violated by members and often not enforced. In a recent poll, more than 75% of voters said members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks while in office.
Several bipartisan bills have been proposed or reintroduced to address these clear conflicts of interest, some of which will be discussed in the hearing.
RepresentUs Director of Federal Reform Damon Effingham issued the following statement ahead of Thursday’s hearing:
“In order for our government to function, voters need to trust that lawmakers have their best interests at heart. Continuing to allow members of Congress to trade stocks with little oversight and accountability will further erode public trust in government, and gives additional fodder to anti-democracy forces who want to see our system fail.
“Cracking down on real or perceived conflicts of interest is a no-brainer. We applaud Chairperson Zoe Lofgren for holding this hearing – but this is just the first step, and voters need more than lip service. Congress must now act and pass stronger stock trading standards into law. Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate have already proposed several bills to improve the STOCK Act, and the American people overwhelmingly support it. Let’s get it done.”
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