On the recordJanuary 31, 2012
as my colleagues are no doubt aware, I stand in opposition to this bill, not because I think we should have insider trading. As a physician I am trained to fix the real problem and you are treating the symptoms. Several months ago, CBS did a series and showed some questionable, not necessarily insider trading, stock transactions, which, given the low level of confidence by the American public in this institution, have raised the question: What about insider trading? I honestly believe everyone in our body is never going to use insider trading to advantage themselves over the best interests of our country. But the real problem is the confidence in the Congress to do what is in the best long-term interest of the country. The reason the confidence is not there doesn't have anything to do with insider trading as we would normally think about it. It has to do with insider trading that we do not normally think about, as to how we sell a vote to get something else on the next vote, how we trade a position, how we saw positions were bought and sold on the health care bill. Whether it be the Cornhusker Kickback or the Florida Gator-aid, whatever it was, the fact is the American people saw behavior of Members of Congress doing things that were politically expedient rather than what is in the long- term best interest of our country. That is the real insider trading scandal we ought to be addressing. How do we do that?…
