| Tell Congress: Pass the ETHICS Act and ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks. | Senators Jon Ossoff and Jeff Merkley are leading a bipartisan group of Senators in a renewed push to ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks. The fight to stop members of Congress from abusing their power and access to non-public information to profit off of stock trading has been going on for years. But the revelations that some U.S. Senators and Representatives profited directly from private briefings related to COVID-19 put the issue front and center in D.C. Then, last year, members of Congress who bought and sold stocks actually outperformed the stock market — something even professional stock traders and Wall Street executives have trouble doing. Now a bipartisan coalition is making a serious push to finally pass legislation to block members of Congress from using their elected positions to violate the public trust and profit from stock trades. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks. Pass the ETHICS Act now! Some members of Congress are making a lot of money using their positions of power to trade stocks in the industries they're supposed to regulate. One of the worst examples: the group of Congress members who benefited from buying individual stocks in the pharmaceutical industry while millions of Americans died from COVID. Similarly unethical trading happens with stocks in weapons contractors, big tech companies, health insurance companies, and the list goes on. Currently, members of Congress are supposed to disclose financial trades within 90 days. Yet in 2021, 54 members of Congress and at least 182 top staff members broke the law and failed to do so. Not only are U.S. Representatives and Senators hiding their transactions, they are profiting off of relief efforts, foreign aid packages, and war. Over 75 policymakers bought and traded stocks in companies like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna in the early weeks of the pandemic as they lobbied to pass $6 trillion worth of relief bills. 15 lawmakers on committees that have influence on the U.S. military have investments in military contractors like Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Raytheon, and General Dynamics. Members of Congress will continue investing in these industries using non-public information — a clear ethical violation — unless we stop this practice now. Add your name: Tell Congress to pass the ETHICS Act and ban Congress from trading or owning individual stocks. |
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