1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to sign Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna's discharge petition for the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would require members of Congress to either sell their stocks or place their holdings in blind trusts. This legislation addresses a fundamental conflict of interest that has eroded public trust in our government for far too long. Members of Congress have access to market-moving information before the public, creating obvious opportunities for insider trading. While this practice has been broadly unpopular with the American people for decades, proposals to ban congressional stock trading have repeatedly failed to receive votes. The discharge petition currently has only 37 signatures and needs 218 to force a floor vote, bypassing the normal legislative process that has allowed this issue to languish. Recent reports indicate that House leadership from both parties may shut down Congress early next week to prevent members from signing the petition. If true, this would be a blatant attempt to avoid accountability on an issue where lawmakers clearly prioritize their personal financial interests over their duty to constituents. The American people deserve representatives who serve the public interest without conflicts of interest. The numbers speak for themselves. Some members have entered Congress with modest means and accumulated extraordinary wealth through stock trading while in office. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, entered Congress in 1987 with a few hundred thousand dollars and is now worth over $130 million according to financial disclosures analyzed by the New York Post. Whether or not individual trades are technically legal, the appearance of impropriety damages public confidence in democratic institutions. I urge you to sign the discharge petition immediately and publicly commit to supporting the Restore Trust in Congress Act. Your constituents deserve to know you are working for them, not your investment portfolio.