Also just to clarify – the bill will be revised and improved over time, but the bill should be opposed until the bill language is specific and severe enough that we might be satisfied with the equality.

The loophole in which members of congress and legislative staffers are immune from enforcement of insider-trading laws, is because the delayed reporting of securities transactions by congress, defeats, obstructs, and impairs its use as timely evidence. Insider-trading cases are hard to prove, because the trades must be tightly linked to the events or information on which they are allegedly based.

Trades need to be disclosed in “real time or near real time,” so that the memories of potential witnesses are fresh and suspects do not have time to cover up their actions. The SEC, which conducts most insider-trading investigations, urged faster disclosure of stock trades by members of Congress on electronic, searchable forms. This is why no Congress people were investigated under the current laws.

Central to this revised law proposed by the Senate is a “duty arising from a relationship of trust and confidence” that would be owed by members of Congress to the people,” and traders need to disclose nearer to real time,” so that the memories of potential witnesses are fresh, and they do not have time to cover up their actions.