Bill to ban insider trading in Congress is suddenly popular

By Kimberly Kindy,
WashPost
Published: November 30

For six years, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter pressed her colleagues to co-sponsor legislation that would ban them from using information they gleaned on Capitol Hill to guide their trades in the stock market.

Most lawmakers bristled, offended by the mere suggestion that they would ever engage in such behavior. Others politely listened but walked away — some as recently as last month. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) never expected to hear from them again.

But now, as the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee prepares to hold the first of two congressional hearings on the topic, Slaughter’s Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act has become an overnight sensation.

Slaughter has 127 co-sponsors, up from the nine she had on Nov. 12, the day before “60 Minutes” aired a piece highlighting investments that congressional leaders made in companies while legislative efforts were underway that may have affected stock values. The piece was based on “Throw Them All Out,” a book released last month by Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer.

(More here.)