WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to approve a ban on insider trading by members of Congress, and President Barack Obama urged the House to follow suit.
By a vote of 96-3, the Senate approved the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, which would prohibit members of Congress from gaining financially by trading on information they are privy to before it becomes public. However, the Senate rejected several amendments evidently intended to put more limits on personal financial dealings by members of Congress, The Hill reported.
Obama -- who called in his State of the Union address last week for a ban on insider trading by members of Congress -- said the House should pass the STOCK Act and promised he would sign it "right away."
"And while this is an important step to rebuild the trust between Washington and the American people, there is much more work to be done, like prohibiting elected officials from owning stocks in industries they impact, and prohibiting people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress from lobbying Congress, an idea that has bipartisan support outside of Washington," the president said in a statement issued by the White House. "These are straightforward proposals that will help eliminate the corrosive influence of money in politics."
