The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to curb insider trading by lawmakers and other government officials on Thursday, despite objections from Democrats and some Republicans that it lacked some tough measures to fight corruption.
The House voted 417-2 to pass the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, even though it did not include a provision to impose new regulations on Washington insiders who collect "political intelligence" from lawmakers and sell it to Wall Street. The Senate version passed last week included this proposal, and other measures to combat public corruption that were dropped from the bill by Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Democrats vowed to restore these provisions when House and Senate members hash out the two bills' differences. Both chambers then must give final approval to the measure before it is sent to President Barack Obama, who has promised a swift signature.
The clean-government bill has attracted massive support during an election year in which Congress's approval ratings have been devastated by deadlocks over extending payroll tax cuts and spending measures that have nearly shut down the government in recent months.
But even a feel-good bill aimed at reaffirming the public's trust in Congress has sparked bickering over changes made by House Republicans. Many Democrats seized upon comments by Republican Senator Charles Grassley that it was "astonishing and extremely disappointing" that the House dropped his provision to force registration of political intelligence operatives, who glean information about pending legislation from lawmakers and their staffs.
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