http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110214/NEWS01/102140319/Investing-rules-absent-Congress?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News
WASHINGTON — Even though he serves on the House committee that handles transportation issues, freshman Republican Rep. Richard Hanna isn't required to sell his transportation stocks.Hanna, of Barneveld, Oneida County, is free to trade on any information that might come his way regarding legislation, contracts or regulatory initiatives that affects stock prices in the transportation industry or the construction industry, which the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee also oversees.
Members of Congress and their staffs are exempt from federal laws that prohibit insider trading.
Even so, Hanna is considering selling his stock, valued between $1,001 and $15,000, in the freight rail company CSX.
Hanna — whose district includes a portion of eastern Ontario County — said he hadn't thought about the potential conflict of interest until a reporter asked about it. He also stressed that his stock holdings were widely diversified.
"Let's say I owned $20 million in railroads, absolutely that would be a conflict," he said. "And just as a principle, I may sell something that glaring. I think I probably will."
Hanna owned a construction company in the Utica area for many years before turning it over to his sister a few years ago.
"I worked for free for her for a couple of years just to show my nephew the ropes, as it were," he said.
Over the years, he invested his construction firm's profits in stocks, developing a portfolio that includes Corning, Dell, JC Penney, Family Dollar Stores, McDonalds, Tupperware Brands and Whirlpool.
Those investments have helped make Hanna the wealthiest of the six freshman Republicans in the New York congressional delegation, with assets valued between $11 million and $33.5 million, according to a personal financial disclosure statement he filed last year as a candidate for Congress.
Why would this government ever do anything for the people?
WASHINGTON — Even though he serves on the House committee that handles transportation issues, freshman Republican Rep. Richard Hanna isn't required to sell his transportation stocks.Hanna, of Barneveld, Oneida County, is free to trade on any information that might come his way regarding legislation, contracts or regulatory initiatives that affects stock prices in the transportation industry or the construction industry, which the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee also oversees.
Members of Congress and their staffs are exempt from federal laws that prohibit insider trading.
Even so, Hanna is considering selling his stock, valued between $1,001 and $15,000, in the freight rail company CSX.
Hanna — whose district includes a portion of eastern Ontario County — said he hadn't thought about the potential conflict of interest until a reporter asked about it. He also stressed that his stock holdings were widely diversified.
"Let's say I owned $20 million in railroads, absolutely that would be a conflict," he said. "And just as a principle, I may sell something that glaring. I think I probably will."
Hanna owned a construction company in the Utica area for many years before turning it over to his sister a few years ago.
"I worked for free for her for a couple of years just to show my nephew the ropes, as it were," he said.
Over the years, he invested his construction firm's profits in stocks, developing a portfolio that includes Corning, Dell, JC Penney, Family Dollar Stores, McDonalds, Tupperware Brands and Whirlpool.
Those investments have helped make Hanna the wealthiest of the six freshman Republicans in the New York congressional delegation, with assets valued between $11 million and $33.5 million, according to a personal financial disclosure statement he filed last year as a candidate for Congress.
Why would this government ever do anything for the people?
