00:00that he should be treated fairly. Senator Slotkin. Yeah, I just want to say I think this is a really
00:04important vote. I appreciate the authors, the co-sponsors bringing it up. I was a co-sponsor
00:11of a very similar bill just for members of Congress in the House banning members of Congress
00:17of all kinds, Democrats and Republicans, from trading stocks. You don't have to sell. You can
00:24put your money into it. You can put your stock into a blind trust, which a lot of members of
00:27Congress have already done. No? That's not true. Mr. Olley, do you want to confirm? Yeah, let me just
00:34can, will you, will you yield, and I'll yield back to you just a few things. Let me just go back to
00:39land is not an illiquid investment. It is, it is not. It's explicitly exempted under the bill. The
00:46bill defines illiquid investments as an interest in private funds. Land is not considered as such,
00:52number one. Number two, Senator Paul brought up the hypothetical that if you're someone who's
00:56running for office and the stock market tanks, as soon as you get into office, you're stuck. Well,
01:01what this bill does, because people like Senator Paul and others have, have asked over and over
01:07for fairness, time to comply, it says that current office holders, the terms of the bill will take
01:13effect upon the beginning of their next term. So in that hypothetical that Senator Paul just raised,
01:17that, oh, you find yourself suddenly locked into a six-year term, you have to sell, you would not have
01:22to, you would have six years to comply. This, this is the same treatment for all office holders.
01:27Members of Congress, members of the House, it will take effect upon the beginning of their next term
01:31if they're re-elected. Members of the Senate, it will take effect upon the beginning of their next
01:34term if they're re-elected. The President, the Vice President, will take effect upon the beginning of
01:38their next term, and so on. So everyone is treated the same in that respect. They're allowed to come
01:42into compliance. And that speaks to the blind trust provisions. If you currently have a blind trust and you are a member
01:49of this body, you have until the beginning of your next term, and then 180 days after that
01:54to meet the divestment requirements. Okay, I yield back. Thank you. Sorry, that's my mistake. I think
01:59we have to accept that the American people think that all of us, Democrats and Republicans, are using
02:07our positions and our access to enrich ourselves. They think that when it comes to stock trading,
02:15and as you pointed out, Mr. Hawley, Democrats and Republicans, right? Just right now, around
02:22Liberation Day, President Trump's big tariff day, 53 members made over 2,200 stock trades valuing at
02:29$34.9 million, between $34.9 million and $140 million. So it's happening on both sides of the aisle,
02:37and people don't believe that we are here for the right reasons. We have a problem. And in order to
02:44address that, I am willing to make the good work instead of waiting for the perfect. So of course,
02:52I want the President and the Vice President to be held accountable under this. Of course, we saw
02:56that you made changes so that it affected their next term, knowing that that probably wouldn't be
03:01Donald Trump. We all saw Vance and Trump come out against this publicly. But I think it's important
03:08that we at least make a start. And you're right, there could be judges and chiefs of staff and all kinds
03:13of other people's. But right now, this body has the opportunity to make the call on this body and a few
03:20other really important, important holders. I would also add the fact that cryptocurrencies, digital
03:27currencies are in this, is hugely important when it comes to curbing people like Donald Trump, who's
03:32made over a hundred million dollars since taking office from crypto. So if you don't want to vote this
03:38way, if you don't want to vote for this, don't say it's because we're protecting Donald Trump. Say it's
03:44you don't want to be held accountable in your own office. It's you don't want to be, you don't want
03:49to have to sell your stock. And I actually respect Mr. Johnson for saying that, for saying this is why
03:54I think it's bad, because people won't be able to earn money. I think that's a legitimate reason for
03:59this. But don't say that you're going to hold out for the perfect when we have a chance to actually
04:05send a message that we understand we have a perception problem. And members of Congress
04:10shouldn't be trading stocks when they're getting classified briefings. Senator Johnson.
04:14Mr. Chairman, I do want to point out that when I decided to run for the Senate and I won,
04:20I sold all my marketable securities. I converted to cash. You know, that hasn't done real well
04:26in terms of investment. Now, my wife has, in the intervening years, bought a few ETFs. So I agree
04:33with the spirit of this. I don't think members of Congress, I don't, in my own case, I don't trade
04:38stocks. But if I would, it's fully disclosed. And I don't want to impose that on other members either
04:45to discourage people from the private sector to come here and serve. Again, we have too many career
04:52politicians. We don't have enough people who have experience in the private sector. We need
04:56more. We need to encourage them, not discourage them. This piece of legislation would be hugely
05:02discouraging to people from the private sector coming here and serving.
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