Hi,
On February 22, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene bought stocks in
Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor.^1 Two days later, Russia invaded
Ukraine. Since then, Lockheed Martin stocks have gone up 16%.
It's just the latest example of members of Congress engaging in
questionable practices and potentially getting rich off of their insider
knowledge. Under public pressure, Congress is now considering legislation
to end this practice. But some of the proposed bills have huge loopholes.
We need to speak out now to stop these corrupt practices!
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Members of Congress should not be allowed to trade
stocks while in office!
ADD YOUR NAME
You may have heard that some bills have been introduced in Congress to
finally limit lawmakers' ability to trade stocks. But many of these bills
contain loopholes that would make their impact negligible. That's why
we're backing Senator Elizabeth Warren's proposal to ban members of
Congress from buying and selling stocks.
Late last year, it was reported that 48 members of Congress and 182
senior-level congressional staffers have violated a federal law by
neglecting to report their trades.^2
That's because under the current rules, current members of Congress are
allowed to trade individual stocks at their own discretion–and their only
penalty for not reporting their trading activity is a $200 fine.^3
Some of the most egregious examples of Congressional stock trading
happened during the past few years, when lawmakers bought and sold stocks
for vaccine-makers like Pfizer in the months leading up to the vaccine's
release.^4 This type of profiteering is widespread–and right now, it's
perfectly legal.
[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Pass the Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership
Act!
Senator Warren's proposal closes the loopholes so that sitting legislators
and their spouses will not be able to trade individual stocks. The new
legislation would be enforced by the Department of Justice and would
impose $50,000 fines on violations.^5
The bill that Representative Jayapal and Senator Warren have submitted has
bipartisan support, and does the most to limit Congressional abuses of
power. But we need your help making sure this bill moves forward.
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition now!
Thanks for taking action,
Tal and the team at Demand Progress
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Greene made defense stock purchases days
before Russia invaded Ukraine," [ [link removed] ]March 11, 2022.
2. Business Insider, "‘Conflicted Congress': Key findings from Insider's
five-month investigation into federal lawmakers' personal finances,"
[ [link removed] ]December 13, 2021.
3. Investopedia, "What Is the STOCK Act?," [ [link removed] ]February 15, 2022.
4. Business Insider, "‘Conflicted Congress': Key findings from Insider's
five-month investigation into federal lawmakers' personal finances,"
[ [link removed] ]December 13, 2021.
5. The Office of Pramila Jayapal, "Jayapal, Rosendale, Warren, Daines
Introduce New Bipartisan Bill To Ban Members of Congress from Owning and
Trading Stocks ," [ [link removed] ]February 9, 2022.
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