Bipartisan Legislation Introduced To Ban US Lawmakers From Owning Stocks - Statement

A bipartisan group of Congressmen introduced legislation that would ban US lawmakers and their families from owning stocks, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick's office said on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2023) A bipartisan group of Congressmen introduced legislation that would ban US lawmakers and their families from owning stocks, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick's office said on Tuesday.

"Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, alongside Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Congressmen Matt Gaetz and Raja Krishnamoorthi, introduced the bipartisan Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act to prohibit financial investments by members of Congress, their spouses, and any dependents," Fitzpatrick's office said in a press release.

Ocasio-Cortez, in the release, emphasized that members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stock when they have access to classified information that the general public does not.

Gaetz added that Congress will never regain the trust of the American public so long as concerns remain about insider trading among lawmakers.

According to US media, five members of Congress dumped personal stock shares in First Republic Bank in mid-March as the bank began to nosedive.

The lawmakers who jumped ship includes Congresswoman Lois Frankel, and Congressmen Ro Khanna, John Curtis, Earl Blumenauer and Dan Goldman.

Last year, US media reported that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi' net worth grew substantially after the 2008 financial crisis with the help of her husband Paul Pelosi's stock trades, which reportedly coincided with major congressional decisions.

Pelosi denied sharing any information with her husband, but last June, Paul Pelosi used call options to purchase up to $5 million in graphics card manufacturer Nvidia several weeks before the House of Representatives considered a bill to provide more than $50 billion in subsidies to support domestic semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.

Moreover, Paul Pelosi also purchased Tesla stock last year year while Nancy Pelosi was pushing for electric vehicle subsidies.