New Amendment Would Prohibit Stock Buying By Congress Members

For 12 years, Sen. Jeff Merkley has pushed for a ban on congressional stock trading, calling the practice “corrupt,” “unacceptable” and “wrong.” Could this be the time it finally makes it across the finish line? Via Raw Story:

Now, Merkley is confident an amended version of the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act has enough bipartisan support that it will come out of a markup meeting with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday with the votes necessary to present the amendment for a vote.

“As the discussion has proceeded, members have been coming around to the recognition that this damages the integrity of our institution. It damages the perception of the integrity of our institution. That it's a conflict of interest that’s unacceptable and has to be addressed,” Merkley told Raw Story in a phone interview. “It's why it's taken a decade plus to get to this point, but I’m now optimistic that coming out of committee, we can get it up as an amendment on the floor. I think we'll get the 60 votes to pass.”

The amended version of the ETHICS Act, supported by Merkley and Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), calls for an immediate ban on members of Congress buying stocks and would prohibit them from selling stocks 90 days after enactment.

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