A recent 60 Minutes story shed light on a bipartisan bill to prevent insider trading in Congress.  The legislation, known as the STOCK Act, was championed by this region’s former Representative Brian Baird. This bill would make sure Members of Congress and their staff cannot purchase stock or make financial transactions based on nonpublic information they gather in their positions.  

I am proud to pick up where Congressman Baird left off, and cosponsored this commonsense bill.  The standards we have established for Wall Street and folks around the country ought to apply to Congress.

The U.S. House of Representatives this week voted on  whether to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would require a balanced federal budget.  I am a strong supporter of this measure; we need to address this nation’s job-killing $15 trillion debt. 

While I was disappointed that this measure failed to attain the necessary two-thirds vote it needed to pass the House, I will not give up on this important reform.  Like folks in Southwest Washington, I understand that out-of-control federal debt severely hampers our hopes for economic growth and new job creation.  We have to get our budget under control.

Please read my guest column on my “Forest Roads” solution that will help preserve manufacturing and forest product-related jobs in Southwest Washington.
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