Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Charles Schumer, Harry
Reid and Patty Murray talk Thursday about the STOCK Act.
Washington (CNN) -- Aiming to restore
voters' faith in Congress, the Senate overwhelmingly
approved a bill Thursday that makes clear it's illegal for
members of Congress, their staffs and many executive-branch
employees to trade stocks and other securities based on
inside information learned on the job.
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act,
which President Barack Obama has urged Congress to approve,
passed 96-3.
The bill states that insider trading is criminal and
requires public disclosure online of any trades within 30
days of a transaction. It was aimed initially just at
Capitol Hill. However, Republicans clamored for the
inclusion of executive-branch employees.
"The same standards should apply to the White House and
the executive agencies that spend hundreds of billions of
dollars at the president's direction," said Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
Obama, referring to his State of the Union address, said
in a statement: "Last week, I called on Congress to pass a
bill that makes clear that Members of Congress may not
engage in insider trading. ... So I'm pleased the Senate
took bipartisan action to pass the STOCK Act. I urge the
House of Representatives to pass this bill, and I will sign
it right away."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, issued a
statement after the Senate vote saying the House may take up
the STOCK Act next week.
"We will quickly review the entire bill and the
amendments that were added today to ensure that public
servants, whether in the legislative or executive branch, do
not personally profit from insider information. It is
critical that the bill we send to the president guarantees
that the same rules apply to those in the federal government
as they do to everyone else," Cantor said in the statement.
Senators approved an amendment by Sen. Richard Shelby,
R-Alabama, that Republicans said would require about 28,000
senior executive-branch employees to abide by the new
disclosures. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, a key
backer of the bill, opposed the provision, warning its reach
could be far broader. He said it would affect as many as
300,000 federal workers, including "drivers (and)
secretaries."
Lieberman wanted to include only about 2,000 of the most
senior executive-branch employees -- those "who hold
positions most equivalent to those of us in Congress who are
policymakers," he said.
Shelby said his approach "creates parity, fairness and
true transparency."
The STOCK Act became a catchall bill for ethics-related
changes lawmakers want to impose on Congress. Several
senators argued that with the approval rating for the
institution near single digits, they owed it to the American
people to adopt strict reforms to restore confidence.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, won approval of an
amendment that would regulate people who gather "political
intelligence" from lawmakers and their staffs with the
purpose of using the information to make investment and
business decisions. It would require these operators to
register and abide by rules in the way lobbyists do.
Lieberman said he wanted more study of the issue.
But Grassley urged senators "not to vote for Wall Street,
vote for my amendment," and pulled out a narrow win.
An amendment by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, passed
easily. It would require lawmakers and their staffs and many
top executive-branch employees to disclose the terms of
their home mortgages. Boxer, as chair of the Senate ethics
committee, recently conducted investigations of two senators
who were accused of getting sweetheart deals from the
mortgage firm Countrywide Financial.
Another measure quickly approved was proposed by
Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal. It expands the list
of felonies a lawmaker could be found guilty of that would
result in the revocation of his or her congressional
pension.
"No official convicted of a felony in connection with his
official duties as a member of Congress should receive one
dime of taxpayer money," Blumenthal said.
An amendment from Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, which was
approved, would block bonuses for executives at the
controversial mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
However, an amendment to ban permanently legislative
earmarks was defeated on a vote of 40-59. While there is
currently a voluntary moratorium on earmarks in the chamber,
there are many senators, including Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who are determined to allow them
again.
A separate earmark-related amendment by Sen. James
Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, also failed. It would have allowed
earmarks but only if they first were examined and approved
by an authorizing committee of Congress.
Some amendments weren't related directly to the STOCK Act
and were defeated. They included a measure to eliminate
duplicative government programs proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn,
R-Oklahoma; and a measure aimed at creating term limits for
senators offered by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina.
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