Washington - Following an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 96-3 in favor of the STOCK Act, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a co-sponsor, issued this statement:

"I am very pleased that the Senate has successfully passed this important bill. Members of Congress are not above the law. If the public is subject to insider trading laws, there is no reason that we as public servants should not also be.

"Throughout my career, I have been strongly committed to restoring public faith in government and it is that commitment that ultimately led me to public service. In the 1980s, I fought to restore integrity and trust in government when my hometown of Union City had a corrupt mayor. Even while facing threats to my life, I still testified in court against this corrupt political machine.

"The STOCK Act is another step towards restoring faith in our government and I hope that it will be signed into law as quickly as possible."

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act explicitly bars members of Congress and their staff from engaging in insider trading or using nonpublic information for their personal benefit and clarifies that the Securities and Exchange Commission is fully empowered to prosecute members of Congress and their staff for engaging in insider trading. It also requires that members of Congress electronically report stock and other major financial transactions within 30 days. S. 1903, the STOCK Act, was introduced by Senator Gillibrand and co-sponsored by Senator Menendez in December 2011.

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