Henrico Times

At Start of New Congress, Spanberger, Roy Reintroduce TRUST in Congress Act to Ban Members of Congress & Their Families from Trading Individual Stocks

U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Chip Roy (R-TX-21) today led 35 of their colleagues in reintroducing a bipartisan bill to require Members of Congress — as well as their spouses and dependent children — to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress, effectively banning them from trading individual stocks.

By establishing this new firewall between Members and their investments, the Spanberger-Roy Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act would make sure Members of Congress cannot use their positions in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate to unethically inform investment decisions, influence the value of their existing investments, or contribute to greater distrust between the American people and their elected officials.

Today’s reintroduction marks the most original cosponsors the Spanberger-Roy legislation has ever received on day one. Spanberger and Roy originally introduced the TRUST in Congress Act in June 2020 — and they reintroduced it in January 2021.

“We are long overdue for a vote on legislation to ban Members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks. Last Congress, we saw the TRUST in Congress Act receive the most bipartisan support of any effort to do so. We saw tremendous momentum, we saw growing support in our districts, and we saw growing recognition across the political spectrum that such a reform needs to be made now,” said Spanberger. “I’ve been proud to lead the charge on this issue, and I want to thank my colleague Congressman Roy for his continued partnership as we reduce potential conflicts of interest in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Our TRUST in Congress Act would demonstrate that lawmakers are focused on serving the interests of the American people — not their own stock portfolios.”

Original cosponsors of the TRUST in Congress Act include U.S. Representatives Scott Perry (R-PA-10), Jerry Nadler (D-NY-12), Adam Schiff (D-CA-30), Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL), Nikema Williams (D-GA-05), Dean Phillips (D-MN-03), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05), Dina Titus (D-NV-01), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-07), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Chris Pappas (D-NH-01), Michael Cloud (R-TX-27), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-05), Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06), Haley Stevens (D-MI-11), Dan Kildee (D-MI-08), Jason Crow (D-CO-06), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-03), Young Kim (R-CA-40), Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), Katie Porter (D-CA-47), Paul Tonko (D-NY-20), Jared Golden (D-ME-02), Susan Wild (D-PA-07), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Pete Sessions (R-TX-17), Grace Meng (D-NY-06), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-03), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06), Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01).

Original source can be found here