Rep. Delgado Joins Bipartisan Legislation to Prevent Insider Trading by Members of Congress and Increase Transparency

Press Release

This week, U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) joined the bipartisan Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act as a co-sponsor. The TRUST in Congress Act aims to prevent insider trading by Members of Congress and increase transparency and accountability in government. Recently, U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) made this a bicameral effort by introducing the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, legislation based on the TRUST in Congress Act.

Among other provisions, the TRUST in Congress Act would require Members of Congress -- and their spouses and dependent children -- to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress. This important step will help ensure elected officials in the U.S. House and Senate cannot use their positions to unethically inform investment decisions or influence the value of their existing investments.

"Public service and representing a community should never be about turning a profit," said Rep. Delgado. "This bipartisan, now-bicameral effort to prevent insider trading by Members of Congress will increase transparency and accountability for constituents -- two of my core values since day one. I am proud to cosponsor this bill and work on a bipartisan basis to clean up the corruption in Washington."

The bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act has been endorsed by many key advocacy and government accountability organizations -- including the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), National Taxpayers Union, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Public Citizen, Government Information Watch, Protect Democracy, Government Accountability Project, FreedomWorks, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Issue One, Open the Government, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Campaign Legal Center, Americans for Prosperity, Democracy 21, Fix the Court, End Citizens United Action Fund, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Specifically, the TRUST in Congress Act would:

-Require all Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust within 90 days after the enactment of this legislation. New Members of Congress, and their spouses and dependent children, would be required to place covered investments into a qualified blind trust within 90 days of assuming office. Affected individuals can remove assets from the blind trust 180 days after the Member leaves Congress.
-Require all Members to either 1) certify to the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate that they have established a blind trust to include covered investments or 2) certify to the Clerk or the Secretary that they do not own any covered investments. The status of these certifications would be made publicly available by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.
-Define covered investments as the following: a security, commodity, future, or any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means such as the use of a derivative.
-Clarify that the following do not qualify as covered investments for the purpose of this bill: a widely held investment fund (such as a mutual fund) or a U.S. Treasury bill, note, or bond. These investments would not have to be placed in a blind trust.

Rep. Delgado is a strong advocate for ending government corruption and improving Congressional ethics. He supports the No Congressionally Obligated Recurring Revenue Used as Pensions To Incarcerated Officials Now (NO CORRUPTION) Act,a bipartisan bill that would end Congressional pensions for corrupt government officials. He has also voted to end automatic pay raises for Members of Congress.

Source