In the news:
Originally published Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 10:05 PM
Senate approves insider-trading ban for members of Congress
Senators of both parties said the bill was needed to restore trust in Congress at a time its public-approval rating had sunk below 15 percent.
The New York Times
Attorney General Eric Holder testifies Thursday before a House panel questioning Operation Fast and Furious.
The day in D.C.
Guns hearing: House Republicans accused Attorney General Eric Holder of hiding information at a hearing Thursday over the botched Operation Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation, while Holder dismissed calls for him to resign and said he's not to blame for the scandal. Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee threatened to hold Holder in contempt if he does not quickly turn over more documents. After several spirited exchanges in the packed hearing room, Holder showed his frustration. "This has become political," Holder said, pointing his finger at one of the committee members. "There is no attempt at any cover-up. We have shared huge amounts of information." He said the department would continue turning over documents but would not meet the committee's deadline or hand over material on some internal deliberations.
Shuler to retire: U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., said he won't seek re-election to a fourth term in what's become another blow to conservative Democrats on Capitol Hill. Shuler, 40, said he intends to spend more time with his wife and two young children.
Medicare change: In the first full year of the new health-care law, 3.6 million people in the government Medicare program saved $2.1 billion on prescription drugs in 2011, the Obama administration said. The savings are one of the first tangible benefits of the overhaul that President Obama signed in March 2010.
Seattle Times news services
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a sweeping ethics bill Thursday that would ban insider trading by members of Congress and require prompt disclosure of stock transactions by lawmakers and by thousands of officials in the executive branch of government.
The 96-3 vote came after three days of impassioned debate in which senators tried to outdo one another in proclaiming their support for ethics in government.
President Obama called for passage of such legislation in his State of the Union address last week. More than half of House members, including at least 100 Republicans, have signaled support, and House Republican leaders said Thursday they would schedule consideration of the Senate bill on the House floor next week.
A few lawmakers have tried for years to enact restrictions on stock dealing by members of Congress. Their efforts drew little support until new attention to the practice last year — coupled with election anxiety — prompted a flood of backing and support from Obama.
Senators of both parties said the bill was needed to restore trust in Congress at a time its public-approval rating had sunk below 15 percent.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., an architect of the bill, said its purpose was "to make sure that members of Congress play by the exact same rules as everyone else."
The bill would bar them from trading stocks and other securities on the basis of confidential information they receive as lawmakers. It says explicitly that they are not exempt from the federal law and regulations that ban such insider trading.
Moreover, the bill requires them to disclose the purchase or sale of stocks, bonds, commodities futures and other securities within 30 days of transactions. The information would be posted on the Web.
A similar disclosure requirement would apply to many federal employees in the executive branch, including the White House, Cabinet departments and independent agencies.
To a large extent, Congress is reacting to a segment on CBS' "60 Minutes" that raised questions about stock trades by House Speaker John Boehner, the husband of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., chairman of the Financial Services Committee. All have denied wrongdoing and denounced the story.
The new reporting requirements would not apply to transactions involving investments in mutual funds with "widely diversified" assets.
"For the first time," Gillibrand said, "this bill would establish that we have a clear fiduciary responsibility to the people we serve. It removes any doubt that both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can investigate and prosecute cases involving insider trading of securities from nonpublic information that we have access to when we do our jobs."
The bill was bipartisan — a product of work by Gillibrand and Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Scott Brown, R-Mass.
Republicans led the effort to impose new financial-disclosure requirements on federal agency officials, similar to those for members of Congress.
"What is good for the goose should be good for the gander," said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
By a vote of 58-41, the Senate approved Shelby's amendment requiring executive-branch employees to report promptly on stock transactions, just as members of Congress would have to do.
Lawmakers disagreed about the number of executive-branch employees who would be affected. Lieberman said it was more than 300,000. Shelby's aides said it was fewer than 28,000.
Federal securities law does not explicitly exempt members of Congress. But, Collins said, "there is a dispute among experts" about whether lawmakers are covered by existing laws on insider trading.
The bill is meant to eliminate any ambiguity.
The Senate voted Thursday on more than a dozen amendments before passing the bill, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or Stock Act.
A few lawmakers complained that the Senate was moving too fast, without proof of wrongdoing.
"The assumption here is that some of our colleagues are doing insider trading on the stock market," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The real insider trading is the horse-trading that goes on in this body that is not always in the best interest of the country."
The "no" votes were cast by Coburn and Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Richard Burr, R-N.C.
By a 60-39 vote, the Senate approved an amendment requiring "political intelligence" firms to register like lobbyists. Such firms collect information on Capitol Hill and sell it to hedge funds and others who use it to inform their investment decisions.
The Senate also approved an amendment to block payment of bonuses to senior executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it was outrageous that the executives were receiving bonuses after the mortgage giants had been bailed out by taxpayers.
Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.
