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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!
Sign the petition: Members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks while in office!
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.
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.
Thanks for taking action,
Tal and the team at Demand Progress
Sources:
1. Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Greene made defense stock purchases days before Russia invaded Ukraine," March 11, 2022.
2. Business Insider, "‘Conflicted Congress': Key findings from Insider's five-month investigation into federal lawmakers' personal finances," December 13, 2021.
3. Investopedia, "What Is the STOCK Act?," February 15, 2022.
4. Business Insider, "‘Conflicted Congress': Key findings from Insider's five-month investigation into federal lawmakers' personal finances," 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 ," February 9, 2022.
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