Representative Angie Craig, Colleagues Press House Leadership for Votes on Bipartisan Bills to Ban Member Stock Trading

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Angie Craig signed a bipartisan letter alongside 16 of her colleagues calling on House leadership to hold a vote on legislation to ban stock trading by Members of Congress. Earlier this year, Craig introduced a House resolution that would require all Members to sell individual stocks and refrain from future ownership of individual stocks throughout their time in office.

"A recent study found that 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act, a decades-old law meant to stop insider trading in Congress and to prevent conflicts of interest among legislators. It's clear that members of Congress should not be trading stocks or using inside information for profit. Reforms are crucial to restoring faith in our government and our political system," wrote the lawmakers.

"We have been glad to see recent momentum towards preventing such violations with public hearings. But the fact remains that each day that passes is another day that elected officials could appear to use their public service for personal profit. There is no shortage of bipartisan legislation ready to be voted on. Although the details matter, we must not let the competing proposals delay us in putting an end to trading and profiting from the stock market by members of Congress and ensuring public service doesn't become self-service," they continued.

"There should be no reason to delay this process, and we respectfully urge you to schedule a vote on a bill that addresses this critical issue. We stand ready to work with you on a bipartisan proposal as it moves through the legislative process," the lawmakers concluded.

Since she was elected, Representative Craig has worked to reform the way Washington works. Craig has been a leader in the effort to ban stock trading for sitting Members of Congress – and introduced legislation to impose a lifetime ban on Members working as registered lobbyists after their time in office. In 2019, she introduced an amendment to the annual spending bill blocking House Democrats from enacting a pay raise for Members of Congress. Craig also introduced and enacted into law the Payment Integrity Information Act, which helps to address improper and wasteful payments that totaled more than $175 billion in 2019 alone.

You can find the full text of the letter

June 22, 2022

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer:

We write today to urge you to put a bill on the floor and hold a vote to ban stock trading by members of Congress as soon as possible.

A recent study found that 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act, a decades-old law meant to stop insider trading in Congress and to prevent conflicts of interest among legislators. It's clear that members of Congress should not be trading stocks or using inside information for profit. Reforms are crucial to restoring faith in our government and our political system.

We have been glad to see recent momentum towards preventing such violations with public hearings. But the fact remains that each day that passes is another day that elected officials could appear to use their public service for personal profit. There is no shortage of bipartisan legislation ready to be voted on. Although the details matter, we must not let the competing proposals delay us in putting an end to trading and profiting from the stock market by members of Congress and ensuring public service doesn't become self-service.

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stock while in office. Elected officials must be held to the highest standard. It is time for every elected official and candidate to support greater transparency and accountability and ensure members of Congress are working for their constituents, not themselves.

There should be no reason to delay this process, and we respectfully urge you to schedule a vote on a bill that addresses this critical issue. We stand ready to work with you on a bipartisan proposal as it moves through the legislative process.

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