Washington ( CNN ) -- President Barack Obama signed legislation on Wednesday aimed at restoring Americans ' faith in the nation 's public institutions at a time they rank at record lows in opinion polls . The act bans insider trading by members of Congress and many executive branch employees . In a ceremony at the White House , the president referred to the need to address public skepticism about an uneven system . `` The powerful should n't get to create one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everybody else , '' Obama said . `` If we expect that to apply to our biggest corporations and to our most successful citizens , it certainly applies to our elected officials , especially at a time when there is a deficit of trust between this city and the rest of the country . '' The STOCK Act -- the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act -- is a rare bipartisan measure coming out of a deeply divided Congress . It makes it clear that members of Congress , their aides and many members of the executive branch can not use inside information they learn on the job to trade stocks or other securities . The law makes such practices criminal and requires public disclosure of any trades within 45 days . It also requires those reports to be made available online in a database that members of the public can search . The new law also limits members of Congress and executive employees to participating only in those initial public stock offerings that are available to the general public . But many public interest groups call the final version weak , because it omitted a provision in the Senate version that would have regulated `` political intelligence , '' the practice of gathering information from lawmakers and Hill aides that could be used to make investment decisions . Obama pledged to work on additional reforms that would `` limit the corrosive influence of money in politics . '' He suggested that elected officials should not own stock in industries they can affect in their positions , and those who bundle campaign contributions should be banned from lobbying Congress . Although New York Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter introduced the legislation six years ago , it did n't have many supporters or much traction on Capitol Hill until a story that aired on CBS 's `` 60 Minutes '' in November . The report raised questions about whether the access several high-profile members of Congress had to inside information on legislation helped them profit from financial transactions involving companies that were affected . After the report , both House and Senate leaders , mindful of the low public regard for Congress , fast-tracked the measure . Originally , the bill 's restrictions applied just to members of Congress and their staffs , but Republicans expanded it to cover many executive agency employees . Despite the overwhelming vote in favor of the bill in both the House and the Senate , none of the top GOP Hill leaders attended the White House bill signing ceremony on Wednesday . House Majority Leader Eric Cantor , who worked on the final version that was enacted , was invited but had events already scheduled in his Richmond , Virginia , district . Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown , facing a tough re-election race this fall , was the lone Senate Republican to stand on the stage with Obama as he wielded several pens to enact the new law . Republican Reps. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin , Bob Dold of Illinois and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania -- all representing districts Democrats are targeting in November -- also attended . The president praised Slaughter for championing the bill , but noted she could n't witness the signing in person because she had broken her leg . House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi , whose financial transactions were examined in the `` 60 Minutes '' story , did not attend . Her office said she had commitments in New York on Wednesday morning and did not return to Washington in time . Another subject of the CBS investigation was Alabama GOP Rep. Spencer Bachus , the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee . His office put out a release saying he will attend a bill signing on Thursday on jobs legislation , but he was not among the Republicans who attended the STOCK Act signing . Cantor said the bill was evidence that a divided Congress could work together on other issues . `` Rather than letting our differences divide us , as so often happens in Washington , this bipartisan bill shows that we can come together and deliver results for the American people , '' Cantor said in a written statement . The Sunlight Foundation , a nonpartisan , nonprofit group that pushes for greater transparency in government , said that while the final measure omitted some stronger provisions it believed would crack down on insider trading , it was an important step forward . But the group 's policy director , John Wonderlich , maintained there were plenty of other abuses involving improper behavior by officeholders that had yet to be exposed . `` The STOCK Act was just one vehicle for ethics and transparency reform in Congress , and a response to a particularly objectionable idea -- representatives seeking to make a private profit through their public service . There are 20 more exposÃ©s like the CBS story just waiting to happen , '' Wonderlich wrote Wednesday . The spotlight on Congress ' recent string of bipartisan action continues Thursday , when Obama is scheduled to sign a bill making it easier for small businesses to gain access to capital and make public offerings . CNN White House Producer Becky Brittain contributed to this report .
In signing bill , Obama talks of need to address public interest . Bill makes it illegal to use inside information to sell stocks and securities . Public interest groups say the bill was leaked before it was passed . Issue came to attention after ` ` 60 Minutes '' story on some profiting from inside information .