U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) renewed their call to House leadership to vote on legislation that would ban stock trading by members of Congress.
“As we work to ensure no members of Congress are profiting off their work with stock trades, continued delays in bringing legislation to the floor are unacceptable,” Pappas said. “Violations of the STOCK Act and reports of potential conflicts of interest make it clear that we must strengthen existing laws. There should be no reason for Speaker Pelosi to delay this process, and I urge House leadership to bring legislation to the floor and call a vote.”
Pappas and Fitzpatrick recently sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) asking for a vote in the September legislative session. A few different bills have been introduced that seek to accomplish this. Pappas is the co-sponsor of H.R. 336, the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress (TRUST) Act, which requires a member of Congress, as well as any spouse or dependent child of a member, to place specified investments into a qualified blind trust until 180 days after the end of their tenure in Congress.
He also co-sponsored H.R.1579, the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, which would prohibit members of Congress from certain financial activities while holding office, including purchasing or selling specified investments. In addition, Pappas co-sponsored H.R.8106, the Fighting Foreign Influence Act, which would prohibit former members of Congress and senior government officials from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments, particularly those with adversarial relationships with the United States, when their public service ends.
“One’s time in Congress should be a temporary public service, and those serving in the People’s House must avoid any and all appearances of conflicts,” Fitzpatrick said. “Holding a vote on the House floor on banning Members of Congress from trading stocks while in office is long overdue. The failure of Congress to end these flagrant and frequent violations of the STOCK Act diminishes any sense of trust or transparency that the American people deserve to expect from their elected officials. Once again, I am insisting that leadership takes immediate action on this issue, and I am strongly encouraging all of my House colleagues to stand together to demand the same in the spirit of transparency and bipartisanship.”