In Hearing, TPA Calls for End to Congressional Insider Trading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224)-456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, TPA Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Dan Savickas will testify at a House Administration Committee hearing on congressional stock trading, where lawmakers will consider greater restrictions on the oft-criticized practice.

In response, Savickas offered the following comment:

“Members of Congress have a unique ability to influence the direction of both the American economy and the global stock market. As such, they also possess the tremendous ability to vote in accordance with what’s best for their personal stock portfolios, rather than the public interest. The continued practice of congressional stock trading has eroded public trust, as 86 percent of Americans now support an outright ban on the practice. This is an unsustainable trajectory.

“Members of Congress sit atop a mountain of sensitive data—classified briefings, regulatory intentions, advance knowledge of economic disruptions—that ordinary Americans will never see. Lawmakers often make trades with information at their disposal that would land any private citizen in legal hot water. This is why it comes as very little surprise that a number of representatives consistently outperform the stock market.

“While prior reforms were well-intentioned, enforcement is non-existent and barely a deterrent. Members routinely miss reporting requirements and face no repercussions. It’s time to go beyond existing protocols and pursue on outrigh ban on this practice, which breeds cynicism, erodes civic engagement, and convinces voters that corruption is simply the cost of doing business in Washington.” 

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 Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.