Letter to the Editor: Congress Should Represent the People, Not Their Wallets

When Congress passed the STOCK Act in 2012, the law was supposed to stop congressional insider trading, improve transparency, and increase public trust in the legislative branch.

But it didn’t go far enough. Recently, the news outlet Insider identified that many members of Congress have failed to properly report their stock trades, making it impossible to fully enforce the STOCK Act. We must go further and stop sitting members of Congress from buying and selling stocks altogether. That’s the best way to make sure that our elected representatives are responsive to our needs and not thinking about how a particular policy might affect their stock portfolio.

Thankfully, there are several proposals before Congress to address this problem. I urge our leaders in Congress to come together and pass legislation for the good of the American people.

Sincerely,

Pamela Pilecki
Laurel, Md