Casten Calls on Congress to Ban Stock Trades Among Members
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) addressed the House on the need to ban Members of Congress from trading individual stocks. In 2021, U.S. lawmakers traded an estimated $355 million of stock. In his remarks, Casten, who does not own or trade any stocks, called on every Member of Congress to stop trading stocks immediately.
You can watch his remarks by clicking here, or on the image below.
Rep. Casten is a co-sponsor of the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, which would ban Members of Congress and senior congressional staff from making individual stock trades or serving on corporate boards.
Full remarks below:
Madam Speaker,
There's an iron rule of investing: unless you're Warren Buffet or have access to insider information, you won't make money trying to outsmart the market. Invest in mutual funds and index funds to build wealth.
And yet, according to a recent New York Times review, members of Congress are not only buying and selling a lot of individual stocks, but we consistently outperform the market.
I don't see Warren Buffett here. Nor do I see a lot of people with long track records of successful stock-picking BEFORE they came to Congress. But I do see a lot of people with a lot of access to inside information. Who know when we are about to change our defense contracts, or invest in domestic semiconductor capacity, or buy vaccines… and have the ability to trade on that inside information.
Our responsibilities as members of Congress are a trust from the voters.
Ethics matters – that's why I personally do not own or trade individual stocks. And I urge every Member of Congress to stop trading stocks immediately.
Even the appearance of impropriety by one member cheapens us all.
That's why I'm a proud cosponsor of the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, which would bar members of Congress and senior congressional staff from buying or selling individual stocks and other investments, and from serving on any corporate boards, while in office.
We owe it to the American people to sign that into law.
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