Sen. Brown says on-camera encounter with Obama helped get STOCK Act through Senate

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said Friday that he believes his on-camera encounter with President Obama right after the State of the Union helped get the insider-trading bill through the Senate this week.

"If it wasn't miked up then people wouldn't have known about it," Brown said on WRKO's Tom and Todd Show Friday morning. "Then I felt they could have probably drawn it out a little bit more."

Brown was heard on-camera telling Obama to push for passage of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, and said this morning that he had not planned to push Obama on the issue immediately after the State of the Union. Instead, he said his comments were a reaction to Obama's call for the legislation.

"So as he's walking by, I said, Mr. President, by the way, my insider-trading bill is ready to go. It's on [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid's desk," he said. "And I said, tell him to get it out. And then he says — looks me right in the eye, and says, 'I will, I'll tell him to get it out.' "

In his speech, Obama said he would sign the STOCK Act immediately in order to help restore public trust in Congress.

"Let's limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact," Obama said. "Let's make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can't lobby Congress, and vice versa — an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington."

The House plans to pass a tougher version of the STOCK Act next week.