CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
Feb. 10, 2012 – 10:18 p.m.
Reid Looks to Resolve Insider-Trading Bill Differences With Conference
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
Senate Majority Leader
The move sets up another round of negotiations between the two chambers and puts Reid, D-Nev., on a collision course with House Majority Leader
The principal points of contention will be Senate provisions on political-intelligence consultants and prosecution of public officials that Cantor dropped from the legislation before sending it to the House floor.
The House passed its amended version of the Senate’s bill (
Reid could appoint senators to a conference committee as early as Monday. The three who voted against the bill — Democrat
House Republican leaders said they found “ambiguities” and conflicting provisions in the bill the Senate passed after considering multiple amendments from both parties. And senators have suggested that House leaders created unintended problems by assembling their version in leadership offices without committee consideration.
Senate negotiators will be trying to restore two Senate provisions the House discarded. One would require political-intelligence consultants to register and file disclosure statements, and the other is intended to fight undisclosed “self-dealing” by public officials and make it easier for prosecutors to pursue public corruption cases.
New provisions added by Cantor are attracting less controversy and are likely to remain in the final version. They would bar lawmakers and some executive and judicial branch officials from participating in initial public stock offerings, and extend to high-level executive and judicial branch employees a requirement that they disclose negotiations for new jobs.
The swift pace of the legislation through both chambers is attributable more to the need to restore some credibility to a Congress that has seen its public approval rating hit an all-time low than to any need to explicitly ban insider trading by lawmakers.
Insider trading is prohibited by Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, and lawmakers are also subject to ethics rules.
Indeed, the Office of Congressional Ethics, an outside body set up to review allegations and make referrals to the House ethics committee, has contacted Financial Services Chairman
Two Senate Objectives
Both versions of the legislation would bar lawmakers and senior employees of the executive, legislative and judicial branches from using non-public information for private profit. The House bill would require lawmakers, senior aides and senior executive branch employees to disclose transactions of stock and other securities within 45 days. The Senate would impose a 30-day deadline.
Reid Looks to Resolve Insider-Trading Bill Differences With Conference
Sen.
Grassley complained about the “chutzpah of the people in the House of Representatives” and noted that his provision was similar to one in a House insider trading bill (
The senator added that his provision would exempt journalists and some constituent groups in order to avoid infringing on First Amendment rights.
But Cantor has signaled that the House will stand its ground and work to ensure that Grassley’s disclosure requirement does not become law. His provision in the House bill calls for a study by the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service of the role of political intelligence in financial markets.
“Think of the wording: political intelligence. I mean, there’s so much to question about what that even means,” Cantor said.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman
The language was added to the Senate bill without opposition, and Leahy said he does not understand why the House dropped it.
The provision is an effort to reverse part of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the scope of a 1988 law (PL 100-690) providing criminal fraud penalties for undisclosed self-dealing by public and corporate officials.
Sen.
Cantor has not publicly outlined his negotiating strategy, saying during a Feb. 9 press conference that he hopes the overwhelming vote in the House might put pressure on the Senate to concede.
Lieberman described as “on its face, reasonable” another House-added provision that would bar lawmakers and senior employees of all three branches of government from taking part in initial public offerings of stock. That provision was meant to draw attention to an investment that Paul Pelosi, husband of House Minority Leader
And Lieberman said he agreed with the House that Grassley’s provision on political-intelligence consultants was “premature.”
Both versions would extend disclosure requirements to lawmakers and senior aides, as well as senior employees of the executive branch. But Lieberman and
Reid Looks to Resolve Insider-Trading Bill Differences With Conference
“We have to do a deeper dive on that. There’s a conflict in what the people believe is the coverage,” Collins said.