Congress has once again delayed a controversial provision of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which critics claimed has potential security issues regarding financial disclosure rules.

The STOCK bill was signed into law by President Obama last September, yet the House voted to delay section 11 of the bill until December 8. An extension bill signed into law by President Obama on December 7th delays enforcement until April 15, giving Congress additional time to review the controversial element of the bill.

Had it been implemented, more than 28,000 senior-level federal employees, including members of Congress, would have been required to publically post online their financial assets including stock portfolio, real estate investments, and retirement funds. This could present national security vulnerabilities said Rep. Jim Moran, in an Op-Ed article in Federal Times.

“Under the proposed online system our enemies around the world might be able to search thousands of records with a single keystroke — anonymously exploiting an easily accessible database to search for subtle differences in financial disclosures,” Moran wrote.

“If analyzed closely, these differences might betray the identity of members of the intelligence community, while simultaneously providing information to our enemies as to which employees might be struggling financially — a known criteria used by foreign intelligence services to target individuals for espionage.” He believes the section should be permanently repealed.

The original fixit bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman, gave time for officials to study the potential risks of posting personal financial information online. Clearly members of Congress have decided that yet more time is needed, now pushing the matter into the 113th Congress.

The STOCK Act spent six years on Capitol Hill until media reports highlighting suspicious trading activities by members of Congress helped push the legislation to be passed.

The concern about potential blackmail and financial issues among high-ranking federal officials is a legitimate one. Although most financial problems are exposed during security clearance investigations or periodic investigations, members of Congress (who would be subject to financial scrutiny via the STOCK Act), are currently not required to submit to background investigations or obtain security clearances, despite their access to classified or sensitive information.

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Chandler Harris is a freelance business and technology writer located in Silicon Valley. He has written for numerous publications including Entrepreneur, InformationWeek, San Jose Magazine, Government Technology, Public CIO, AllBusiness.com, U.S. Banker, Digital Communities Magazine, Converge Magazine, Surfer's Journal, Adventure Sports Magazine, ClearanceJobs.com, and the San Jose Business Journal. Chandler is also engaged in helping companies further their content marketing needs through content strategy, optimization and creation, as well as blogging and social media platforms. When he's not writing, Chandler enjoys his beach haunt of Santa Cruz where he rides roller coasters with his son, surfs and bikes across mountain ranges.