‘If You Want To Trade Stocks, Go To Wall Street’: Mark Alford Rails Against Congressional Stock Trading

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During remarks on the House floor prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) spoke in support of a ban on congressional stock trading.

Transcript

00:00And I'll yield two minutes to another gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Alford.

00:05Well, thank you so much. I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island, and I am honored to follow

00:10my friend from Kansas City, Reverend Emanuel Cleaver. Thank you, sir.

00:15Hey, I agree with you. This is a bipartisan issue.

00:21Today, I rise to introduce the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act.

00:28In fact, my bill is complimentary to Senator Josh Hawley over in the Senate.

00:33And look, if you travel the 4th District of the great state of Missouri, just south of

00:38Reverend Cleaver's district in Kansas City, and you ask the average person, Mr. Speaker,

00:43if members of Congress should be able to trade individual stocks, they'll say no.

00:51That is not good for our nation. It's not good for this body. It's not good for rebuilding trust.

00:58In the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.

01:04You know, the reason we introduced this is because there has been widespread reports of suspicious

01:09transactions associated with public officials, and it raises a lot of concerns about what we're doing

01:17here in this great body. Look, if you want to run for the U.S. House of Representatives and you want

01:24to serve the people, Mr. Speaker, that's fine. If you want to trade stocks, then go to Wall Street.

01:31I'm the chair of the Oversight Committee for the Small Business Committee. I'm concerned about Main

01:36Street. I'm concerned about the 772,047 individuals that I represent. That's what we should be here about.

01:45Not trying to get rich on trading stocks. And my bill is bicameral. It is bipartisan.

01:53As I said before, it's led in the Senate by Senator Josh Hawley. President Trump

01:58has announced that he will support this legislation. To make this law, he will sign it into law.

02:05Today, Speaker Johnson indicated his support for the underlying policy. And the members gathered here

02:13tonight to prove that this is a bipartisan mission. To right the ship. To get us back on the right track.

02:23This legislation has workable compliance deadlines. It allows trading in broad-based index and mutual funds,

02:29and requires real enforcement. It has teeth with substantial penalties for violations. As public

02:37servants, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard, Mr. Speaker, and avoid the mere appearance

02:43of corruption and impropriety. Unfortunately, too many members of Congress are engaging in suspicious

02:51stock trades based on non-public information to enrich themselves. These gross violations of the

02:57public trust make it clear. We must finally take action, take a stand to ban members and their

03:03spouses from owning or selling individual stocks. It's simple. Public service should never be a pathway

03:11to private wealth, especially when everyday Americans are struggling. This is about rebuilding trust in what

03:19we do. Congress works for the people, not to enrich our bank account. I am proud to

03:26to join my colleagues tonight on the other side of the aisle. I tell you what, it's kind of refreshing

03:31to have something that we agree on. But we agree that America comes first, our constituents come first,

03:42and we as servant leaders should come last. So thank you, sir, for holding this special order.

03:47Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And with that, I yield back. Thank you to the gentlemen. I now yield to my friend

03:53from Pennsylvania. Mr. Deluzio for two minutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I

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