U.S. Rep. Tim Walz attends President Barack Obama’s signing of the STOCK Act along with Vice President Joe Biden. -- Photo provided

President Barack Obama Wednesday morning signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, known as the STOCK Act, into law.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, who spearheaded the bill to ban insider trading on Capitol Hill, was among those attending the signing ceremony at the White House. Walz became lead author of the bill when he re-introduced the STOCK Act in March 2011.

“I was honored and humbled to see the president make it the law of the land,” Walz said in a Wednesday statement. “This law will work to hold Washington accountable and restore the American people’s faith in democracy.” Walz called the reform common sense.

“The fight does not end here,” he said. “I will continue to make government reform central in my mission.”

President Obama was expected to sign the bill, after saying in a previous statement he would when it reached his desk.

“Congress should do even more to help fight the destructive influence of money in politics and rebuild the trust between Washington and the American people,” Obama said.

The bill cleared the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 96-3, and the House on a significant majority of 417-2.

The STOCK bill prohibits members of Congress from using confidential information to trade stocks to their advantage. The president, vice president and Congress members are among the people the bill dictates must make financial disclosures within 30 days of the transactions.

Walz, who said he felt members of Congress should play by the same rules as everyone else, re-introduced the legislation last March, according to the news release.

“He has been fighting for it for years,” said Tony Ufkin, press secretary for Walz. “Since his first term in office.” The original legislation was first introduced in 2006 by U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, Ufkin added.

The bill went into effect immediately after Obama signed it. It allows 18 months before requiring full compliance. At the end of that period, the public will be able to search through and download the electronic financial filings.