Hi,

After months of eagerly waiting for Democrats’ proposal to ban
Congressional stock trading, key negotiators say the final proposal
released last week was designed to fail.^1

Members of Congress have a financial incentive to continue trading stocks
and profiting off the insider information they’re privy to as public
servants. We need to make sure our representatives feel the pressure: we
demand that leadership introduces, and Congress passes, legislation
forcing Members to completely divest from stock ownership while in office!

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Speaker Pelosi must bring robust legislation to ban
Congressional stock trading to the floor immediately! To ensure an ethical
Congress, Members, their spouses, and their top aides must divest
ownership of all individual stocks while in office.

ADD YOUR NAME

One reason Democrats’ proposal was dead on arrival is that it fails to
ensure Members fully divest from their stocks. Instead, it allows Members
to place their assets in ‘qualified blind trusts’ — a non-starter for many
Members who recognize the trusts would create a loophole. In the words of
one Democratic staffer involved in the negotiations, qualified blind
trusts are “kind of fake.”^2

The public is still waiting on an adequate proposal to end corruption in
Congress. Meanwhile, Members continue to profit at the public’s expense.
Congress should be focused on making decisions that serve the public
interest — not their personal stock portfolios. 

It’s no secret that Members of Congress make savvy stockbrokers. TikTok
users watch Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures to mimic her
trades.^3 Right now, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is
considering the approval of two stock indexes that would let consumers
mirror the stock holdings of senior Members of Congress.^4

The proposed names? KRUZ and NANC, for Ted Cruz and Nancy Pelosi.

The current laws governing Congressional stock trading are too weak – and
are rarely enforced. That’s why we need a ban on Members of Congress
owning and trading all individual stocks while in office.

Members have an incentive to make the policy as weak as possible — but
they’re vulnerable to grassroots pressure. We must be clear: the
Congressional stock trading ban must require Members, their spouses, and
their top aides to divest ALL ownership of individual stocks while in
office!

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must bring
legislation requiring Members of Congress to divest from individual stock
ownership while in office to the floor immediately! 

Thanks for taking action,

Izzi and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources: 

 1. The Intercept, “House Democratic Leadership Designed Stock Trade Ban
to Fail, Negotiators Say,” [ [link removed] ]September 30, 2022.
 2. Ibid. 
 3. NPR, “TikTokers Are Trading Stocks By Copying What Members Of Congress
Do,” [ [link removed] ]September 21, 2021.
 4. CityWire, “Capitol allocation! New ETFs target lawmakers' stock
picks,” [ [link removed] ]September 19, 2022.
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