Nexstar: TRUST in Congress Act would not allow lawmakers to buy or sell stocks

NEXSTAR, BASIL JOHN

“I was disgusted by even the allegations,” Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger said.

Spanberger is talking about accusations that some lawmakers may have used insider information to profit during the coronavirus pandemic.

“There were news reports about members of the United States Senate and members of the United States House of Representatives who were buying and selling stocks, that from an outside view, looked rather linked to the crisis we were facing as a nation,” Spanberger said.

Investigations cleared some of the lawmakers, like Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, but Spanberger’s new bipartisan bill would remove all temptation.

“Any person elected to Congress, their spouse or their dependent children, would have to move all of their individual stocks into a blind trust,” Spanberger said.

The bill also requires members to disclose other investments, but it would not apply to mutual funds, U.S. treasury bills or bonds.

“When you serve like this, you serve, you’re elected and your constituents should have trust that you’re there to be selfless, not selfish,” Pennsylvania Republican Glenn Thompson said.

Thompson and Pennsylvania Republican Fred Keller believe members of Congress should be held to a higher standard.

“I don’t have a problem with looking at that transparency and seeing what we can do to advance that,” Keller said,

Both Thompson and Keller say this bill is a step in the right direction, to prove lawmakers care more about the American people, than their wallets.