U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib introduced a bill Tuesday aimed at preventing politicians and their families from profiting from war.
The Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act would bar members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children from having any financial stakes in companies that do work with the U.S. Department of Defense. The legislation would also ban congressional members and their families from trading defense stocks.
Members of Congress are currently permitted to own and trade stocks, regardless of their committee assignments and access to insider information.
U.S. lawmakers made 96 transactions in defense stocks in 2023, and eight of those purchases occurred since October, when the war between Hamas and Israel broke out, according to Capitol Trades.
Tlaib, a Detroit Democrat, said the public’s faith in government has eroded because members of Congress have exploited their positions to line their pockets.
“My colleagues continue to funnel billions of American tax dollars to the very same defense contractors that many of them are invested in and taking campaign donations from,” Tlaib said in a statement. “The American people deserve representatives who vote in the best interest of our country and our families, not their stock portfolios. It is shameful that some of my colleagues are profiting financially when they vote to support wars and weapons manufacturing. Members of Congress should not be able to use their positions of power to get rich from defense contractors while voting to pass more funding to bomb innocent civilians. The American people deserve better. We are sick of politicians profiting from endless wars.”
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, has been a fierce critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Since the war began, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 27,000 people and wounded an additional 66,000.
Numerous groups are endorsing Tlaib’s bill.
“Elected officials owning defense contractor stocks while also controlling annual budget allocations is the opposite of a virtuous circle,” Savannah Wooten, who leads Public Citizen’s People Over Pentagon campaign, which is committed to reducing the Pentagon’s budget and spending more on domestic and human needs issues. “It’s an astonishing testament to the deep power of the military-industrial-Congressional complex that owning defense contractor stock while in office hasn’t yet been banned. Rep. Tlaib’s legislation is a long overdue and welcome proposal. The bill should be passed immediately.”
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Steve Neavling
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