Issue Position: Ethics and Accountability

Issue Position

Congresswoman Slaughter strongly believes that elected officials and other public servants should be held to the highest standards. For years, Congresswoman Slaughter has taken on the institutions of power that have rigged the system against the average American. Anyone who serves as a representative of the American people should be held accountable to the same standards of behavior as the citizens they serve. Whether she's opposing Wall Street tycoons who crashed the economy, corporations that cheat their way out of paying taxes, or members of Congress who behave unethically, the congresswoman consistently stands up for what is right.

Priorities

Political Intelligence Transparency: Political intelligence is a $400 million a year industry in which information gleaned from the halls of government is sold to Wall Street to inform investment decisions. Congresswoman Slaughter is working hard to pass disclosure and transparency requirements for the political intelligence community. She believes that constituents didn't send members of Congress to Washington to fill the pockets of hedge fund managers. If there was ever a case to show that Wall Street and Capitol Hill have become too cozy, this is it. The political intelligence industry is in desperate need of transparency and should register disclosure filings just as the lobbying industry does.

Supreme Court Ethics: Many Americans are surprised to learn that, unlike all other federal judges, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are not bound by a code of ethics. Justices participating in political events and failing to disclose potential conflicts of interest have undermined public confidence in the institution. The congresswoman believes that the Supreme Court should adopt its own code of ethics, which would go a long way to restore trust in the justices' impartiality.

Campaign Finance Reform: The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission overturned a century of legal precedent by holding that unlimited corporate spending in elections was protected by the First Amendment. The court's ruling unleashed a torrent of previously restricted spending by corporations to influence political campaigns. Corporations should not have free range to determine elections due to the size of their coffers and fundraising capabilities. Congresswoman Slaughter wants to give the power back to the people and change how campaigns are funded.

Accomplishments

Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act: Congresswoman Slaughter first introduced the STOCK Act in 2006 and was instrumental in getting the legislation passed and signed into law on April 4, 2012. The bill prohibits the use of non-public information for private profit, specifically targeting insider trading by members of Congress, their staff, and other government employees.

Political Intelligence Transparency Act: The congresswoman first introduced the Political Intelligence Transparency Act in 2014. The legislation would amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require the disclosure of political intelligence activities. The bill would also add political intelligence to the same "revolving door" restrictions that apply to former federal officials.

Supreme Court Ethics Act: Congresswoman Slaughter continues to fight to have the Supreme Court follow all five canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States. To achieve this, Congresswoman Slaughter, along with 31 members of Congress, urged Chief Justice John Roberts to voluntarily adopt the Code of Conduct. The congresswoman also introduced the Supreme Court Ethics Act, which would require the Court to adopt the ethical standards imposed on all other federal judges.

Government by the People Act: To combat influential corporate spending, Congresswoman Slaughter was an original co-sponsor of the Government by the People Act of 2014. This legislation aims to shift political power from wealthy corporations to average citizens by increasing the strength of low dollar donations through matching public funds and encourages participation in the electoral system through a refundable tax credit.

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