Support the ETHICS Act (H.R. 4890) to Prevent Congressional Insider Trading

I am writing to urge your support for H.R. 4890, the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act. This important legislation deserves your backing to restore public trust in Congress and ensure that our elected representatives serve the people, not their own portfolios. The current system has failed spectacularly. The STOCK Act of 2012 promised transparency through disclosure, but transparency has not prevented corruption—it has only made it visible. During the COVID-19 pandemic, members of Congress traded over $150 million in stocks after receiving closed-door briefings about the economic threat while publicly downplaying the crisis. Senator Richard Burr executed 33 trades on February 13, 2020, selling more than half a million dollars in shares just one week before markets crashed. Senator Dianne Feinstein made significant sales shortly before the public understood the pandemic's scale. These were not isolated incidents. Between February and April 2020, 49 members of Congress—both Democrats and Republicans—executed over 1,350 trades valued between $60 and $98 million. More recently, when President Trump announced tariffs in 2025, 53 members made over 2,200 trades valued between $34.9 million and $140 million in just 55 days. The ETHICS Act would make such egregious behavior impossible. By banning stock ownership and trading outright for members, spouses, and dependent children, it removes the conflict of interest at its source rather than merely requiring disclosure after the fact. I acknowledge that the House passed H.R. 7008, the Stop Insider Trading Act, but that bill was fatally compromised when House Republicans attached an unrelated voter ID requirement that would suppress voting rights. What could have been a meaningful ethics reform became a partisan grab. The ETHICS Act avoids this trap entirely, maintaining the bipartisan support it deserves. Representatives from across the political spectrum—progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and conservatives like David Cloud and Matt Gaetz—have united behind this principle. Polling shows that 70 to 86 percent of Americans support banning congressional stock trading. This transcends party lines. Your constituents deserve representation that puts the public good first, not personal wealth accumulation. I urge you to champion the ETHICS Act and restore faith that Congress works for the American people.