CONGRESSMAN SCOTT PERRY 0724

RJ Harris welcomes Congressman Scott Perry to discuss a pressing issue that's been making headlines: insider trading in Congress. As one of the original sponsors of the bill to ban insider trading, Congressman Perry shares his insights on the challenges of getting the bill to the floor and the importance of transparency in government.

The conversation delves into the world of congressional insider trading, where some lawmakers have been accused of using their positions to make millions. Congressman Perry explains how the current system allows for a lack of accountability and how the proposed bill aims to change that. He also touches on the issue of flock cameras, which have become increasingly ubiquitous and raise concerns about privacy and surveillance.

Congressman Perry's passion for transparency and accountability is evident as he discusses the need for a stronger policy to protect citizens' rights. He emphasizes the importance of holding lawmakers accountable for their actions and ensuring that the public has access to information about their representatives' financial dealings.

If you're interested in learning more about this critical issue and hearing Congressman Perry's thoughts on how to make a change, tune in to this episode of the RJ Harris Breakfast Show.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Seven thirty six, twenty four to go till eight o'clock.
It's Friday, Blessed Friday, and this is the r J.
Harris Breakfast Show with Holly Love and Bill Mead, and
we welcome back to the show. Congressman Scott Perry. Good morning, sir.
How are you today?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hey RJ? Happy, happy summer, Happy Friday. You know I'm
doing as well as anybody could be.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
I suppose, well, well, you know, today is National drive
through Day for restaurants, and I have to imagine as
much as you travel, you've done a few of those
in your life.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
I think most people, Yeah, yeah, I enjoy a good hamburger,
chicken sandwich or whatever every now and then. You know,
But my RJ. You know, my wife sees my you know,
my bank statement, and then I get lectured about how
many times I might go through the drive through, and
you know, I gotta be careful with that.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
I can dig that. Bonnie does all the finances too,
so I'm right there with you. Well, listen, I asked
you to come on this morning because I wanted to
talk about the Banning Congressional Insider Training, because you were
one of the original sponsors of banning insider trading.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, we've been working on this for some time, and
you can imagine there's a fair amount of resistance within
the membership to do that. I mean multiple bills, multiple
iterations of it, and you could never get it to
the floor, never ever, ever, And unfortunately, you know, Washington

(01:38):
almost every time is about leverage, no matter which side
of the leverage you're on, and we were able to
apply enough leverage finally to get them. Look, we didn't
say and you know, you vote how you vote, but
we want to have a vote on this. People want
to know how their member is going to vote. And
we were able to apply enough of pressure and get

(02:00):
it to the floor to see how everybody would vote
for it. And here's the thing, RJ. You know, I
think most members know that, you know that there's things
you could do, and the perception and all that and
and just you know, kind of do the right thing,
but there's always somebody that has to abuse it, or
multiple people that have to abuse it, and so you know,

(02:23):
that's why you just got to have these rules. And
so you know, you get these these members that that
do better than that, like phenomenally better than your average
citizen and then you got members in leadership that do
phenomenally better than the other members because because they have information,

(02:45):
they know which company is going to get some contract
or whatever, and and they invest in it. And it's
really caustic and corrosive to the you know, to the
people's belief that that their member of Congress goes to Washington,
d c. And is working, you know, in their best
interest instead of his or her own best interest. And so,

(03:09):
you know, we had arguments about it right up until
the last minute, I can tell you that. But I
was happy that we got it to the floor and
we got a vote on it. You know, I'm not
real confident that the Senate's going to take it up
right now. We're having a hard time to getting the
Senate to show up for work. So yeah, you know,
but we wanted everybody to know. So we're happy we got,
you know, an opportunity to get a vote on it.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
No, I believe it's serious. You look at the guy
that is accused of this, that works at three Mile
Island with over a million dollars made. You know, if
they prove their case, that guy will go to jail.
Yet they are members of Congress who have made more
than that, and that's not an issue or hasn't been.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Nothing ever happens to them, right, I mean, there's some
kind of investigation, and of course you have the same people,
the third investing, doing the investigation, and so they don't
want to draw any attention to themselves. So yeah, you know,
maybe it was close, it was you know, a minute
here or an hour there, but you really didn't do
anything wrong, and these folks walk away. People go to Look,

(04:17):
I will tell you I pay my mortgage and everything
else with my paycheck, and you know, we live. Look,
we're not complaining. I don't complain. I've never asked for
a pay raise or anything like that. But the job
is what it is. But that's what it's supposed to be.
You're not supposed to be that go there and get rich.
But I can tell you there are people and I

(04:38):
know you know of them r J. They go there
making a paycheck and they leave being one person. I'm
probably we're going to talk about I don't know. I
think it's worth two hundred million.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Dollars now you mean Nancy, Yes, yeah, do you.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Become you know, on a on a you know, on
this salary that you make every other member makes how
to welcome.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
They shovel that off to the brilliance of her husband.
Of course.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well that's the other thing. That's the other thing is
that you know they'll say, well, I didn't do it.
You know, I'm not doing it. Well, they're telling their
family member or whatever. Which is why we included family
members in this thing, because you know, look, it's not
hard to figure out this game, right, and so we
wanted everybody to be forced to take a vote on

(05:29):
that and let them let their bosses know where they stand. Now,
I will tell you some members voted for it, hoping
and praying that it will never happen, right, that the
Senate will never take it up and it will never
be signed into law. But it does make it. I
think it draws attention to it at election time when

(05:49):
they voted for it and still continue to trade prolifically.
I mean, every year a list comes out of those
members that are the most successful and prolific traders. And look,
when I decided i'd you know, i'd run for office,
I just told my wife, we will never do that
because I never want the people I represent to think

(06:11):
that I ever did something to further my own personal
well being. I'm just never going to have to answer
that question, so we're not going to do it. And
you know, that's how I feel about it, and I
think that that's how everybody should feel.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
About I want to change the topic now. And thank you, Bravo.
We've all been complaining about it for years, so you're
very proactive. Thank you. I hope the Senate does come
to work and adopts it. So all right, flock cameras,
that's been a big thing for you. I see now
that people are actually in some areas dismantling them because

(06:49):
they know exactly what the flock cameras are about. Now,
I'm not suggesting that people go out and damage property,
but I just think it is starting to pick up
some steam here.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
People. I don't think we're aware of these things. They're
not aware of the capability, and they just weren't. You know,
you live your life and there's all the stuff going on,
and you know who's who drives around looking at what's
on the poll right, and then they find out that
these cameras are now becoming very ubiquitous. There is no
public policy really associated with them. They're tracking all your movements.

(07:24):
And look, it's one thing when the police want to
use them to find a criminal. We want the police
to have the capability to get the bad guys. But
it's another thing when anybody can buy that information and
or access the information and know you're a whereabouts, follow
you around, so to speak, and do whatever they're going

(07:44):
to do with that. I mean, unfortunately, it's been used
on too many occasions for somebody to track their ex
lover or their ex husband or wife or whatever, and
then whatever happens after that, you know, when they find
out where they're going and where they've been and the
consequences of that. We have this thing called the Constitution,
and as you know RJ, it is just a piece

(08:06):
of paper. It can't defend itself. It requires people of
integrity to do that. And so, you know, we want
law enforcement to have the appropriate tools, but we also
want to know that our privacy and our right to
not have to be forced to deal with unlawful and
unwarranted search and seizure are respected. Right now that you know,

(08:29):
that's that's a we're on the edge of that, and
so we need some we need some policy to make
sure we're doing the right thing and not doing the
wrong thing.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Gotcha. Well, we're out of time, but it was great
to speak. If you be safe out there, take care
of the family, and have a good weekend. The weather's
going to be gorgeous.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
You do the same. Rjie.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Great to talk to you, Happy summer. Thank you, God
bless you. That's Congressman Scott Perry. It's a seven forty five.