Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of the STOCK Act, which we will be voting on very shortly. This legislation is based on a bill that was first introduced in the Senate last fall by Senator Scott Brown, and a similar one introduced by Senator Gillibrand. I wish to commend them both for their work on this legislation. As a cosponsor of Senator Brown's bill, I especially want to recognize his leadership on this issue. I also wish to recognize Chairman Lieberman for all the work he has done in moving this important bill through our committee, through a robust debate here on the Senate floor, and to final passage today. Last fall, press reports on ``60 Minutes'' and elsewhere raised the question of whether lawmakers are exempt, either legally or practically, from the insider trading laws. The STOCK Act is intended to affirm that Members of Congress are not exempt from our laws prohibiting insider trading. As we saw when we first considered this legislation, despite reassurances from legal experts and the SEC that no so such exemption exists, there has been persistent disagreement about the issue. That's why we feel it is important to send a very clear message that Members of Congress are not exempt from the insider trading laws, and that is exactly what this bill does. Last month the Senate passed its version of the STOCK Act by an overwhelming bipartisan margin of 96 to 3.…”