Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced on Wednesday that he will introduce a bill banning congressional lawmakers and their spouses from maintaining stock holdings or making new transactions while in office.
Hawley’s announcement came the same day a pair of Democratic senators introduced a similar piece of legislation that would ban members of Congress and their families from making stock transactions while serving in office.
Hawley’s bill, dubbed the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, would ban members of Congress and their spouses from holding, buying or selling stocks or equivalent economic interests while serving in Washington. Investments in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds or U.S. Treasury bonds, however, would be permitted.
Hawley in a statement said, “It’s time to stop turning a blind eye to Washington profiteering.”
Incoming members of Congress would have six months to divest any forbidden holdings or move them into a blind trust for the rest of their time in office.
Members who violate the proposed law would be required to forfeit profits made on their investments to the Treasury. Violators would also lose the opportunity to subtract the losses from those investments on their income taxes and be subject to potential additional fines from congressional ethics committees.
If passed, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would conduct an audit of member compliance with the law every two years.
The Democrats, however, require that the holdings be moved within 120 days of a new member entering office, and their penalty for violation of the law would be a fine in the amount of their entire Congressional salary.
All they should get is a SALARY & that’s IT !!!!! No Stocks No Bribes No other Money Laundering !!!!
NO SPecial interest groups or ANY other Doners !!! SALARY & that’s IT !!!!
TIRED of them being ABOVE the LAW the rest of us have to live by !!!! ENOUGH
This is for show. Nothing will happen.
No Money should be allowed for elections either !!!! So the Rich like SOROS , & the rest can’t BUY elections !!!!
In a perfect world they wouldn’t be able to make a law that they exclude themselves from or only directly relates to themselves. They shouldn’t be able to give themselves raises either, they should make federal minimum wage. They shouldn’t get paid if they don’t show up to vote. Just like any other person would get paid for not showing up to work.
Shmuck Schumer will use the bill as a doorstop. It will never see the light of day.
Does this include Ms. Nancy?