Cassidy, Ricketts Introduce Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading, Restore Trust in Congress

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) today introduced the Stop Insider Trading Act to prohibit Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks and mandate a seven-day public notice period before any stock sales can be executed.

"Members of Congress shouldn't cash in on information the public doesn't have. That's wrong," said Dr. Cassidy. "Let's put a stop to it."

"No lawmaker should ever profit from insider information. Nebraskans send us to Congress to build a better country. Public service is a privilege, not a profit center," said Senator Ricketts. "Trust in Congress remains at an all-time low. To fix that, we need to prove we are playing by the same rules as everyone else."

The Stop Insider Trading Act will:

• Prohibit Members, spouses, and dependent children from purchasing any new stocks in publicly traded companies.
• Require public notice at least seven days, but no more than 14 days, in advance of any intended sale.
• Establish a penalty of $2,000 or 10% of the investment value, whichever is greater, plus the forfeiture of any net gain realized from the sale.
• Stop insider trading without preventing successful people from the private sector from serving.

Cassidy and Ricketts were joined by U.S. Senators Dave McCormick (R-PA), Jon Husted (R-OH), Deb Fisher (R-NE), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Todd Young (R-IN) in introducing the legislation. The is the Senate companion bill to legislation led by U.S. Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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