Brian Baird, PhD - Insider Trading by Congress - ProCon.org

UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES.
UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER.

INSIDER TRADING BY CONGRESS

Brian Baird, PhD Biography
Title:	US Representative (D-WA)
Position:	Con to the question "Should Insider Trading by Congress Be Allowed?"
Reasoning:	"Members of Congress and their staffs should not be above the law when it comes to profiting from sensitive information. The American people expect Members and staffers to work on their behalf and to represent their interests, not to increase the returns on our investments and fatten their stock portfolios. Privileging a select group of investors with confidential information about congressional activity is not only a misuse of a congressional office, it also undermines investor confidence about the fairness and integrity of the securities market." As I have noted, buying or selling stock based on nonpublic information from Congress does not clearly run afoul of current insider trading laws. For this reason, I joined forces with Ranking Member Slaughter to introduce the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act, earlier this week to put an end to this troubling practice." Press Release, "Brian Introduces Legislation to Prohibit Insider Trading on Capitol Hill," www.baird.house.gov, Jan. 27, 2009
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:	Experts Individuals with JDs, PhDs, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to insider trading issues. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to insider trading issues.
Involvement and Affiliations:	US Representative (D-WA), 1999-present Member, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Member, House Committee on Science and Technology Co-Founder and co-Chair, Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus Co-Chair, Democratic Caucus Task Force on Health and Medicare Co-Founder and co-Chair, National Parks Caucus Co-Founder, Congressional Caucus to Control and Fight Methamphetamine Senior Democratic Whip, US House of Representatives President, 1998 Democratic Freshman Class, US House of Representatives Professor, Department of Psychology, Pacific Lutheran University, 1986-1998 Chair, Department of Psychology, Pacific Lutheran University, 1995-1997 Former clinical psychologist Member, Phi Beta Kappa
Education:	PhD, Clinical Psychology, Wyoming University, 1984 MS, Clinical Psychology, Wyoming University, 1980 BS, Psychology, University of Utah, 1977
Contact Info:	Phone: 202-225-3536 Fax: 202-225-3478 Email: None found Website: http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Brian_Baird
Select Publications:	The Internship, Practicum, and Field Placement Handbook: A Guide for the Helping Professions, 2001 Are We Having Fun Yet?: Enjoying the Outdoors with Partners, Families, and Groups, 1995
Other:	Sponsor, Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, 2006, 2007, 2009 Sponsor, Political Intelligence Disclosure Act, 2008
Quoted in:	1. Should Congress pass the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act? 2. What is the Political Intelligence Disclosure Act?