There was a Forbes article on my computer screen. There is a headline that says "Senators Accused Of Insider Trading, Dumping Stock
The story told how Republican senators sold millions of dollars in stock after being briefed on the coronaviruses. The senator from Oklahoma reported a huge stock sale on behalf of his wife. They were accused of trading on inside information.
I was surprised that senators were able to trade stock. This wasn't something that was taught in school. I was shocked as I dug deeper.
Some members of Congress buy and sell stock in companies that they regulate. Stock options can be lucrative for some people. Until President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 into law, members of Congress were allowed to profit from their public service.
The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission didn't take action against the lawmakers. I can't even vote because I'm 17 years old.
I made a plan after I started working on another way to be civically active. I would create a website called SenateTrades in the summer of 2021. My goal is to determine their stock holdings, calculate their annual returns, and show their transactions to the public.
I hoped that by doing so, the voting public would be able to hold the senators more accountable. My project was supported by a $500 grant from the city of Lawrenceville.
I tracked over $166 million in stock market transactions when I finished the app at the end of the summer.
I was surprised to discover that the Senate's stock investment return in 2020 was 12%, which was better than the S&P 500's 18% return. When the general market fell 30% in late March, the Senate's stock average fell only 15%.
Some senators did a great job for themselves. From January 1, 2020 to date, Whitehouse's portfolio has returned 20%. Wyden's portfolio has grown in value by more than 20%. Hoeven's positions have returned more than 18%.
The senators have better access to information that informs their decisions. It may be a matter of good fortune or bad luck. It is hard to prove this for federal regulators.
Several senators have been accused of wrongdoing but never charged. Thousands of congressional stock transactions that violate the STOCK Act's disclosure provisions have been identified by the Conflicted Congress project. Lawmakers who oversee the nation's defense policies and spending simultaneously invest their money in the stock of defense contractors are examples of real or perceived conflicts of interest.
The congressional app challenge is a computer science competition that encourages American students to explore coding, innovate policymaking, and connect with their representatives. The app won first place in my district.
I was more excited to see my website pick up traction than I was to be recognized for my project. In the spring of this year, I took the project to a new level, coding a bot that would automatically follow the trades of senators and congressmen.
A Data for Progress poll shows that 70% of voters support banning lawmakers from trading stocks. There was bipartisan agreement that changes need to be made to stock trading on Capitol Hill.
The reforms have not been made public. If the nation is to improve upon the congressional stock-trading status quo, any new law will have to tighten the relatively loose standards for public officials. Laws are useless if they are not enforced.
Congressional stock trading was not covered in my high school social studies class. When public officials ignore the laws they've created for themselves, it's a sign that our democracy isn't healthy.
George McCain is a rising senior at the school. He wants to study economics and computer science.
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