John,

Congress, with a record-low approval rating of 13%, should give serious consideration as to how they have lost the trust of the American people. Extreme dysfunction and chaotic partisan battles certainly contribute, but voters also share a concern that leaders seem to be mainly concerned with feathering their own nests.

Most Americans are prohibited from using insider knowledge, but members of Congress buy and sell individual stocks all the time. Responsible for overseeing factors affecting the futures of companies and entire industries, Congress has the ultimate insider knowledge of what stocks to buy and sell.

Is it any surprise the members of Congress outperformed the average investor in the stock market in 2023, just as they did in 2022 and 2021? Way too many lawmakers buy stocks in the very industries for which they have specific oversight responsibilities. Over a dozen members who oversee energy policy invest in fossil fuels, and 15 members overseeing defense policy invest in defense contractors.

When COVID hit in 2020, before the general public knew what was coming, 75 members of Congress bought shares of Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer -- rushing to cash in on the very vaccines they were regulating,

As the role of insider information has become shockingly obvious, 70% of Americans are now in favor of banning Congress from trading individual stocks.

Let’s make it happen! Senators Jeff Merkley and Sherrod Brown’s Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act calls for an end to Congress’ insider trading. Sign the petition to urge Congress to pass this bill now.

There is a viable alternative to investing in individual stocks, one that many stockholders use frequently if they don’t want to bother with playing the market themselves. Index funds go up or down, reflecting the fluctuations of the stock market as a whole, but generating a respectable return on investment of 10-12% over a seven-year period.

And importantly: what a congressperson knows has no bearing on what stocks the index fund buys or sells.

This solution is fair and easy to implement. Members of Congress and their families would not be barred from making investments, but they would no longer be able to game the system just to line their own pockets.

With trust in government at an all-time low, banning Congress from trading individual stocks would help to restore some basic confidence in our elected representatives. Demand passage of the ETHICS Act by adding you name now!

Thank you for helping to ensure our representatives are elected to serve the people, not just their own portfolios.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund