Ocasio-Cortez Joins Republicans In Calling for Stock Ban
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez likely surprised many of her Democratic colleagues when she joined several Republicans on Wednesday in renewing their call for members of Congress to be banned from stock trading.
AOC, a New York Democrat, was brought up to a podium to address reporters by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who greeted her with a fist bump.
“That’s good. Thank you, thank you, Tim. Good afternoon, everyone. Hope everyone’s doing well. I got to say, I know it was — man, what was it, like six or seven years ago now, Chip — that you and I were elected here. And one of the first conversations that Representative Chip Roy [Texas] and I had, had to do with money in politics, I remember, and just in general,” AOC began.
“And, you know, I think that this issue has brought so many of us across the political spectrum together because we are united by the value that people should feel that their elected representative puts them and their interests first, and that we are here first and foremost to do the job that the public has sent us to do,” she said.
“And, you know, in many ways, I feel like this press conference and this podium shouldn’t necessarily be facing out here. I don’t think we need to sell the American people on this. We need to be turning it around and making sure that we get this thing past the post. And I want to thank Congressman Roy for the effort you’ve put in this Congress specifically to move this forward,” AOC continued.
“It’s very rare, I feel, in Washington that when we bring multiple stakeholders and folks together to negotiate on a bill, that you leave that room feeling like the bill got better. A lot of times it feels that we’ll get to an agreement and we’re holding our nose to get something past the post. But I genuinely feel in this process that in putting all of our bills together, we’ve actually ended up with a product that is legitimately stronger than the sum of its parts,” the Bronx Democrat added.
“And it is one of those rare moments where I feel like Washington is working the way that it’s supposed to work, and it feels foreign, and it feels alien, and it’s like, ‘What’s going on here?’ But I also think it is proof that things can work here. And when we put our disagreements aside — of which, of course, there may be many — but we focus on the things that we have in common, we can make our country better, we can make this institution better, and we can increase and earn the faith of the American people, which is really genuinely the core of our work here,” she said.
“We are going to get this done. It requires standing up against the powers that be. But because of the support of the American people on this issue, you all have generated the momentum necessary to give us the power to be able to do this. And I look forward to bringing this to a vote. I look forward to banning the trading of individual stock on the floor by members of Congress. And I’m looking forward to making this place a better place that puts the American people first,” she concluded.
WATCH:
Specifically, lawmakers are looking to pass the PELOSI Act – named after House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who, together with husband Paul Pelosi, is worth north of $245 million, largely on the basis of successful Wall Street investments.
The outsized earnings have led critics to accuse Pelosi of “insider trading,” which is illegal for anyone, including members of Congress, though she has vehemently denied the allegations.
