Keller @ Large: Brown Presses Obama To Stop Insider Trading
BOSTON (CBS) - When you get a moment to talk with the president one-on-one, you seize it.
Senator Scott Brown did just that, grabbing the president, just moments after the State of the Union address last night.
Brown wants the president to fast track legislation stuck on Capitol Hill.
You may recall the "60 Minutes" piece last fall on how insider stock trading laws don't apply to Congress, and how some of its leading members appear to have made a killing off that loophole.
WBZ-TV's Jon Keller Is At Large
Since then, there's been a major push to close it on Capitol Hill, including one by the president during his speech, and another by Senator Brown right afterwards.
"Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow," President Obama said in his address.
The line drew a modest round of applause for a reform that's drawn support from nearly 300 Representatives and Senators since "60 Minutes" detailed the practice.
But versions of the so-called Stock Act have been dying for more than a decade.
And in a moment of face-to-face lobbying caught on-camera Tuesday night, Senator Scott Brown pressed the president to give the bill a push.
"The insider trading bill's on Harry's desk right now," said Brown. "Tell him to get it out, it's already there."
"I'm gonna tell him," answered Obama. "I'm gonna tell him, I'm gonna tell him to get it done."
Today at a diner stop in Worcester, Brown was hoping the President meant what he said.
"If he wants to be serious he'll just pick up the phone and say 'Harry, bring it out,' it's pretty easy to do," says the Senator.
Senate Majority Leader Reid's office didn't respond to our request for comment.
So we asked Brown, "Are some of his colleagues publicly backing a bill they privately hope will die?"
"It could be, certainly, there are certain folks who have come up to me and said 'hey, why are you doing this,' and I said it's to reestablish the trust with the American voter in Congress, cause there's a lack of trust right now."
