Obama hails bipartisanship in signing STOCK Act

A day after blasting Republicans for being increasingly unwilling to moderate their views, President Obama found common ground with them Wednesday.

Obama invited eight Capitol Hill lawmakers, including four from the GOP, to join him as he signed the STOCK Act, which bans members of Congress from making financial trades based on information gleaned from their oversight work.
Sen. Scott Brown ( R-Mass.) was among the Republicans who joined President Obama as the president signed the STOCK Act. (Harry Hamburg - AP)

Before picking up his pen, the president cited a “deficit of trust” between Washington and the rest of the country and said the bill, formally known as the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, was the first step toward restoring the public’s faith in the political process.

But, Obama added, there’s “more we could do to close the deficit of trust and limit the corrosive influence of money and politics.”

According to the White House, Obama was joined at the signing by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.), Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.). Brown is engaged in a tight, high-profile election battle with Democratic consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren, a former Obama administration official.

Democratic representatives David Cicilline (R.I.), John Larson (Conn.), Bobby Scott (Va.) and Tim Walz (Minn.) also were on hand, as was Vice President Biden.

Obama made note that he was pleased Congress worked together to pass the bill, which the president had urged lawmakers to support during his State of the Union address.

“We were sent here to serve the American people and look out their interests, not our own interests,” Obama said.