Cory Mills Urges Congressional Stock Trading Ban, Claims Lawmakers Can't Serve Public, Self At Same Time

During remarks on the House floor prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) spoke in support of a ban on Congressional stock trading.

Transcript

00:00to each of them and I want to thank them for their leadership. I now recognize the gentleman

00:04from Florida who I know has also been a champion of this issue for some time now, Mr. Mills,

00:11for two minutes. Thank you so much, Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity. You know, I don't

00:19need a written speech or a prepared document to say how common sense this is. For far too long,

00:27people have basically turned politics into a career which was never its intent. It was meant

00:33to serve we the people and there is something that is mutually exclusive. You cannot serve yourself

00:38in personal enrichment and serve the public at the same time. We know for a fact that even within

00:44the National Defense Authorization Act that you can get language put in provided to you by companies

00:52that allow for certain amounts of money to be sole sourced or in some ways appropriated to

00:57defense companies that they can then turn around and invest in. How is that not insider trading

01:03when it's public knowledge on what's out there but not public knowledge on what's being put

01:08into the NDAA during the markups? Insider trading must stop and I can tell you that banning stock

01:14trading for members of Congress and their spouse should not be something that is in question.

01:21We must rebuild the actual image of Congress. We must rebuild the image of federal government

01:27government where we are actually here to truly serve the people. I think this is a paramount step

01:32in us making sure with friends and colleagues like Representative Magaziner to be able to move forward and

01:39rebuild the trust, the hope, and rebuild this institution to be what it once was. Our founding fathers and many of

01:47them were in the private sector and very successful businessmen. They served in an effort to try and get back to

01:53their businesses because they actually made more money there. But it's changed where people are making

01:57more money while in Congress while stock trading than they can in the private sector. The same way that

02:03Plan B for failed male athletes shouldn't be women's sports, Plan B for failed entrepreneurs shouldn't be

02:09Congress in stock trading. So I support this bill and I ask everyone to move forward in guaranteeing that we rebuild the

02:16confidence in government and we restore what it is to serve we the people. With that, I yield back.

02:22Thank you to the gentleman. I now yield to a man I admire.