House removes political intelligence registration requirement

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the House Republicans' version of a bill to ban insider trading by lawmakers that removes a Grassley-added provision to require political-intelligence practitioners to disclose their activities for the first time and make them adhere to the same registration requirements of lobbyists.  The growing industry collects information that it sells to Wall Street, which uses the information to make money.  The House legislation replaces Grassley's disclosure requirements with a study of the industry.  Grassley's provision passed the Senate 60 to 39.

"It's astonishing and extremely disappointing that the House would fulfill Wall Street's wishes by killing this provision.   The Senate clearly voted to try to shed light on an industry that's behind the scenes.  If the Senate language is too broad, as opponents say, why not propose a solution instead of scrapping the provision altogether?   I hope to see a vehicle for meaningful transparency through a House-Senate conference or other means.   If Congress delays action, the political intelligence industry will stay in the shadows, just the way Wall Street likes it."