Rep. Norma Torres Offers Amendment to Close Stock Trading Loophole for Members of Congress

Rep. Norma Torres Offers Amendment to Close Stock Trading Loophole for Members of Congress

Torres Opposes Flawed, Inadequate Bill

Washington, D.C. - Today, during the committee markup in the Committee on House Administration, Congresswoman Norma Torres offered an amendment to strengthen the Stop Insider Trading Act by eliminating a major loophole that still allows Members of Congress to maintain a financial stake in the stock market and use insider information for personal profit.

The amendment would strike language that permits Members to keep stocks they own upon entering Congress and reinvest dividends from those holdings back into the market. Allowing continued stock trading through dividend reinvestment undermines the core purpose of a stock trading ban: to prevent members from enriching themselves through their work.

"If we are serious about banning Members of Congress from trading stocks, then we need to actually ban Members of Congress from trading stocks," said Congresswoman Torres. "Allowing Members to reinvest dividends is still stock trading. If you are constantly reinvesting money in a company, you still have a vested interest in that company's profitability. It's a nice loophole for the wealthiest among us. They can still trade stocks and just call it by a different name."

"If my colleagues want to allow Members to keep the stocks they own when they enter Congress, then at a minimum those holdings should be frozen, no reinvesting, no growing the portfolio," Torres continued. "This is a reasonable, common-sense amendment that closes a clear loophole and helps restore public trust."

"I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment. Americans deserve a Congress that works for them, not one with a financial stake in the stock market," Torres said.

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