[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 456 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 456

    Objecting to the conduct of the President of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2017

 Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Carson of Indiana, 
Ms. Lee, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
   Cicilline, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. 
    Yarmuth, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Ms. Bass, Mr. Ellison, Mr. 
 Gutierrez, Ms. Fudge, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Maxine Waters of 
 California, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Lofgren, 
   Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Payne, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Ted Lieu of 
California, and Mr. Cardenas) submitted the following resolution; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and 
 in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Objecting to the conduct of the President of the United States.

Whereas, on January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump swore to ``faithfully execute the 
        Office of President of the United States'' and to ``preserve, protect 
        and defend the Constitution of the United States.'';
Whereas the Constitution prohibits Federal office holders from accepting 
        emoluments of any kind from a foreign state without the consent of 
        Congress;
Whereas President Trump has refused to divest, place into a blind trust, or 
        otherwise give up his ownership interest in his worldwide business 
        holdings since becoming President;
Whereas President Trump has refused to release his tax returns, in a break from 
        the practice of United States Presidents for more than 40 years;
Whereas, on February 14, 2017, the Chinese Government registered a trademark to 
        Donald John Trump for branded construction services, following a 10-year 
        legal battle that turned in Donald John Trump's favor after he declared 
        his candidacy for President of the United States;
Whereas, on February 27, 2017, and March 6, 2017, the Chinese Government granted 
        preliminary approval of 38 new trademarks to Donald John Trump and one 
        of his companies, and the director of a Hong Kong intellectual property 
        consultancy said he had never seen so many applications approved so 
        expeditiously, and the approvals closely followed President Trump's 
        decision to honor the one-China policy, in contrast to his earlier 
        statements;
Whereas President Trump did not first seek or obtain the consent of Congress 
        before accepting any of these trademark benefits from China;
Whereas President Trump owns approximately 77 percent of the Trump Old Post 
        Office LLC, which holds a lease from the General Services Administration 
        to operate the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC;
Whereas the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, has actively courted 
        foreign diplomats for their business and, according to public reports 
        since the November 2016 election, diplomats have made plans to stay at 
        the hotel to curry favor with Donald John Trump and, whereas, some 
        diplomats have said spending money at Trump's hotel is an easy, friendly 
        gesture to the new President;
Whereas, in late January 2017, a lobbying firm working for the Kingdom of Saudi 
        Arabia paid for a room at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, 
        DC, after Inauguration Day as part of its effort to bring activists to 
        Washington to urge Congress to repeal the law letting 9/11 victims' 
        families sue the Kingdom;
Whereas the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, has reportedly taken in 
        $270,000 in payments tied to Saudi Arabia for expenses including 
        lodging, catering, and parking expenses;
Whereas, on February 22, 2017, the Embassy of Kuwait held its National Day 
        Celebration at Trump International Hotel Washington, DC;
Whereas, on or about April 6, 2017, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative 
        of Georgia to the United Nations stayed at Trump International Hotel in 
        Washington, DC;
Whereas President Trump did not first seek or obtain the consent of Congress 
        before accepting any of the benefits from foreign states derived from 
        their patronage of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC;
Whereas President Trump owns Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in New York 
        City and at least two tenants of Trump Tower are entities owned by 
        foreign states, including--

    (1) the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is owned by 
China; and

    (2) Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which is owned by the United 
Arab Emirates;

Whereas President Trump did not first seek or obtain the consent of Congress 
        before accepting any of the benefits from foreign states derived from 
        their patronage of the Trump Tower in New York City;
Whereas President Trump owns Trump World Tower in New York City and whereas, in 
        2001, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia purchased a floor of Trump World Tower 
        and the floor currently belongs to the Saudi Mission to the United 
        Nations;
Whereas President Trump has not sought or obtained the consent of Congress for 
        any benefits he has received, such as monthly assessments, from Saudi 
        Arabia due to its use of Trump World Tower in New York City;
Whereas President Trump is an executive producer of ``The Apprentice'' and the 
        state-owned television station BBC One in the United Kingdom pays 
        licensing fees to broadcast the show;
Whereas President Trump has not sought or obtained the consent of Congress 
        before accepting benefits from the United Kingdom, or any other foreign 
        government, in the form of licensing fees for ``The Apprentice'';
Whereas President Trump's travel to resorts in which he has an ownership 
        interest, such as Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, the Trump National 
        Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and the Trump National Golf Club in 
        Sterling, Virginia, costs taxpayers millions of dollars while such 
        resorts receive the benefit of publicity;
Whereas President Trump appointed Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn to 
        serve as National Security Advisor;
Whereas, on January 26, 2017, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned White 
        House Counsel Don McGahn that National Security Advisor Flynn had misled 
        Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russian 
        Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, and that, as a result, 
        Flynn was at risk of being blackmailed by the Russians;
Whereas Flynn was not asked to resign from the Administration until February 13, 
        2017;
Whereas, on January 27, 2017, President Trump invited FBI Director James Comey 
        to a one-on-one dinner at the White House, during which he told Director 
        Comey he needed loyalty;
Whereas, on February 14, 2017, President Trump told Director James Comey, ``I 
        hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn 
        go,'' and, ``He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.'';
Whereas, on March 20, 2017, Director James Comey testified before Congress that 
        the FBI was investigating Russian interference with the 2016 United 
        States Presidential election and whether there was any collusion with 
        the Trump campaign;
Whereas, on May 9, 2017, while the FBI was investigating whether there was any 
        collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, President Trump fired 
        FBI Director James Comey;
Whereas in his letter informing Director James Comey that he was being 
        terminated, President Trump said, ``While I greatly appreciate you 
        informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under 
        investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department 
        of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.'';
Whereas, on May 12, 2017, while speaking in a nationally televised interview 
        about his decision to fire Director James Comey, President Trump said, 
        ``And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you 
        know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it's 
        an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should 
        have won.'';
Whereas, according to a published report, President Trump told Russian 
        officials, ``I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut 
        job . . . I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off.'';
Whereas, on May 12, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ``James Comey better hope 
        that there are no `tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking 
        to the press!'';
Whereas, on June 22, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ``With all of the recently 
        reported electronic surveillance, intercepts unmasking and illegal 
        leaking of information, I have no idea . . . whether there are `tapes' 
        or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, 
        and do not have, any such recordings'';
Whereas, on March 4, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ``Terrible! Just found out 
        that Obama had my `wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. 
        Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!'' and, ``How low has President Obama 
        gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is 
        Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!'';
Whereas, on March 20, 2017, at a hearing of the Permanent Select Committee on 
        Intelligence of the House of Representatives, both FBI Director James 
        Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers both denied 
        there was any information supporting President Trump's allegation that 
        President Obama had wiretapped President Trump;
Whereas, on May 10, 2017, while hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov 
        and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak at the White 
        House, President Trump revealed highly classified ``code-word'' level 
        information to Ambassador Kislyak, concerning information from a United 
        States intelligence partner;
Whereas President Trump prohibited American press from witnessing his May 10, 
        2017, meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian 
        Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak at the White House, but 
        allowed a Russian photographer to have access;
Whereas, on April 29, 2017, while speaking by telephone with Philippines 
        President Rodrigo Duterte, President Trump revealed that the United 
        States had two nuclear submarines near North Korea;
Whereas, in February 2017, while President Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister 
        Shinzo Abe at his Mar-a-Lago Club, President Trump discussed a ballistic 
        missile test by North Korea in an unsecured dining terrace in view of 
        club dining patrons;
Whereas President Trump has appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to serve as 
        an envoy to foreign leaders, despite having no diplomatic experience;
Whereas United States foreign policy has long been based on both our Nation's 
        interest as well as our values, including democracy, freedom of the 
        press, and promotion of human rights;
Whereas, on April 3, 2017, when speaking about Egyptian President Abdel Fattah 
        al-Sisi, President Trump said, ``We agreed on so many things. I just 
        want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are 
        very much behind President al-Sisi. He's done a fantastic job in a very 
        difficult situation.'';
Whereas President al-Sisi rose to power in a coup, and in his country 
        antigovernment protests have been banned, freedom of press and freedom 
        of religion have been repressed, some independent human rights groups 
        have been banned, and it has been estimated that 60,000 political 
        prisoners have been detained;
Whereas, on April 29, 2017, President Trump invited Philippines President 
        Rodrigo Duterte to visit him at the White House, despite the fact that 
        Duterte has been accused of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects;
Whereas, on March 17, 2017, President Trump refused to shake German Chancellor 
        Angela Merkel's hand in an Oval Office meeting;
Whereas, on May 25, 2017, President Trump pushed aside Montenegro Prime Minister 
        Dusko Markovic in order to move to the front of a group of NATO leaders;
Whereas President Trump has been slow to fill critical diplomatic posts 
        including the United States Ambassadors to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, 
        South Korea, and other State Department positions that are vital to our 
        Nation's security;
Whereas, on January 27, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive order that 
        banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the 
        United States for at least 90 days, banned admission of all refugees for 
        four months, indefinitely blocked refugees from Syria, and contained 
        language prioritizing the admission of non-Muslims from majority Muslim 
        nations;
Whereas, on January 31, 2017, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said, 
        ``This is not a travel ban . . . This is not--I repeat, not--a ban on 
        Muslims . . .'';
Whereas, on January 31, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, 
        ``First of all, it's not a travel ban.'';
Whereas, on February 3, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge James Robart in the 
        State of Washington blocked implementation of the travel ban nationwide;
Whereas, on February 9, 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals 
        for the Ninth Circuit ruled against reinstating the travel ban;
Whereas, on March 6, 2017, President Trump issued a revised Executive order that 
        removed Iraq from the list of nations from which immigration would be 
        temporarily banned, and no longer contained language indefinitely 
        banning Syrian refugees or calling for prioritized admission for non-
        Muslims fleeing majority Muslim nations;
Whereas, on March 15, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson in the 
        State of Hawaii blocked implementation of President Trump's revised 
        Executive order, noting that when Mr. Trump was asked during the 
        Presidential campaign if he was pulling back from a ``Muslim ban'', Mr. 
        Trump said, ``I don't think it's a rollback. In fact, you could say it's 
        an expansion. I'm looking now at territories. People were so upset when 
        I used the word Muslim. Oh, you can't use the word Muslim. Remember 
        this. And I'm okay with that, because I'm talking about territory 
        instead of Muslim.'';
Whereas Judge Watson also noted that Senior White House Advisor Stephen Miller 
        had told Fox News that the revised Executive order would have the ``same 
        basic policy outcome for the country'', and that Rudolph Giuliani had 
        explained the origin of the original Executive order by saying, ``When 
        [Mr. Trump] first announced it, he said `Muslim ban.' He called me up. 
        He said, `Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it 
        legally.''';
Whereas, on May 25, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 
        upheld a preliminary injunction blocking President Trump's revised 
        Executive order, saying it ``drips with religious intolerance, animus, 
        and discrimination.'';
Whereas, on June 5, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ``People, the lawyers and 
        courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need 
        and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!'';
Whereas, on June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge by 
        the Trump administration to rulings blocking full implementation of the 
        President's revised Executive order;
Whereas, on June 29, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ``I heard poorly rated 
        @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low 
        I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came . . . to Mar-a-Lago 3 
        nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She 
        was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!'';
Whereas, in a February 4, 2017, tweet, President Trump referred to a Federal 
        judge with whom he disagreed as a ``so-called judge'';
Whereas, in a May 9, 2017, President Trump referred to the United States Senate 
        Minority Leader as ``Cryin' Chuck Schumer'' in a tweet;
Whereas, on April 28, 2017, President Trump referred to United States Senator 
        Elizabeth Warren as ``Pocahontas'' in a speech to the National Rifle 
        Association;
Whereas President Trump has called press reports, ``fake news'' and in some 
        instances his administration has prohibited video recordings of White 
        House press briefings;
Whereas President Trump used Twitter to circulate a video of him violently 
        wrestling a man covered by a CNN logo, which, according to the Reporters 
        Committee on Freedom of the Press, was a ``threat of physical violence 
        against journalists . . . [and] beneath the office of the presidency.'';
Whereas free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy;
Whereas, on January 6, 2017, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 
        detailed Russian efforts to influence the 2016 Presidential election, 
        stating, ``We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an 
        influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. 
        Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic 
        process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and 
        potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government 
        developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.'';
Whereas President Trump has refused to acknowledge, unequivocally, that Russia 
        meddled in the 2016 Presidential election, saying, instead, things like 
        ``I think it very well could be Russia but I think it could very well 
        have been other countries . . . I think a lot of people interfere.'';
Whereas, on June 6, 2017, while on foreign soil, President Trump criticized 
        former President Obama, saying, ``The thing I have to mention is that 
        Barack Obama when he was President found out about this in terms of if 
        it were Russia, found out about it in August, now the election was in 
        November, that's a lot of time he did nothing about it. Why did he do 
        nothing about it? He was told it was Russia by the CIA as I understand 
        it . . . I think what happened was that he thought that Hillary Clinton 
        was going to win the election and he said let's not do anything about 
        it.'';
Whereas President Obama issued repeated warnings to Russian officials, including 
        a direct warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin, approved a 
        cyberwarfare campaign against Russia, and expelled Russian diplomats 
        from the United States;
Whereas, on July 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ``Putin & I discussed forming 
        an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many 
        other negative things, will be guarded . . .'';
Whereas President Trump has not empaneled a commission to investigate Russian 
        interference with the 2016 United States Presidential election, but has 
        empaneled a commission to investigate unfounded claims that there were 
        as many as 5,000,000 fraudulent votes in the United States Presidential 
        election, which President Trump has claimed cost him the popular vote;
Whereas, on June 29, 2017, the United States Senate passed S. 722, the 
        Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017, which included 
        sanctions on Russia, by a vote of 98-2;
Whereas President Trump's administration has sought changes to S. 722 to make it 
        more friendly to Russia;
Whereas, on June 1, 2017, President Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate 
        Agreement, a historic pact among nearly 200 parties, including Russia 
        and China, to reduce emissions that raise global temperatures, put lives 
        and property at risk, and imperil the planet upon which we live, and, 
        Syria and Nicaragua were the only nations that did not sign the Paris 
        Agreement, and Nicaragua objected because it felt the agreement did not 
        go far enough;
Whereas 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activity has impacted 
        climate change;
Whereas, on May 28, 2017, after transatlantic meetings, German Chancellor Angela 
        Merkel concluded that President Trump was not the kind of traditionally 
        reliable partner for Germany and Europe on whom they have been able to 
        depend in the past, saying that traditional alliances were no longer as 
        steadfast. Merkel stated that Europe should, ``really take our fate into 
        our own hands . . .'' and said, ``The times in which we could rely fully 
        on others--they are somewhat over.'';
Whereas President Trump's opposition to the Paris Climate Agreement put the 
        United States at odds on climate change with the rest of the G-20 at its 
        July 2017 meeting in Hamburg, Germany;
Whereas President Trump failed to secure an international agreement at the July 
        2017 G-20 meeting to counter the threat posed by a nuclear-armed North 
        Korea;
Whereas President Trump's first cabinet appointments had the smallest percentage 
        of women and nonwhites combined than any since President Reagan;
Whereas the gender pay gap at President Trump's White House is more than double 
        the national pay gap;
Whereas, on January 21, 2017, President Trump's spokesperson said, ``Photographs 
        of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one 
        particular Tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on 
        the National Mall . . . That was the largest audience to witness an 
        inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe.'';
Whereas in support of his assertion about the inaugural crowd size, President 
        Trump's spokesperson said, ``We know that 420,000 people used DC Metro 
        public transit yesterday, which compares to 317,000 that it used for 
        President Obama's last inaugural'', but transit officials said that 
        570,557 riders used the transit system on January 20, 2017, as compared 
        with 1.1 million trips the day of President Obama's first inauguration 
        and 782,000 trips the day of President Obama's second inauguration;
Whereas, on February 16, 2017, President Trump said his 2016 election victory 
        was, ``the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan'';
Whereas Donald J. Trump received 304 electoral votes in 2016;
Whereas Barrack Obama received 332 electoral votes in 2012, and 365 electoral 
        votes in 2008;
Whereas Bill Clinton received 379 electoral votes in 1996, and 370 electoral 
        votes in 1992;
Whereas George H. W. Bush received 426 electoral votes in 1988; and
Whereas when President Trump was presented with facts about the size of his 
        predecessors' electoral victory margins at a press conference on 
        February 16, 2017, he responded, ``I don't know, I was given that 
        information. I actually, I've seen that information around.'': Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) based on the conduct described in the preamble, the 
        House of Representatives has no confidence that President Trump 
        is faithfully executing the office of President of the United 
        States; and
            (2) President Trump should--
                    (A) release his tax returns;
                    (B) place his private business assets in a blind 
                trust or to divest from them;
                    (C) donate to the United States Treasury, as he 
                promised, any personal profit he has made from foreign 
                patronage of hotels in which he has an ownership 
                interest;
                    (D) refrain from taking any action that results in 
                taxpayer money being spent on goods or services from 
                businesses in which he has an ownership interest, such 
                as Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, the Trump 
                National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and the 
                Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia;
                    (E) seek congressional consent for any and all 
                emoluments he has received from foreign countries;
                    (F) refrain from using Twitter inappropriately, 
                including refraining from posting comments that could 
                adversely impact United States foreign policy;
                    (G) support the First Amendment, support freedom of 
                the press, refrain from calling reporting ``fake 
                news'', refrain from posting video of himself wrestling 
                with a press logo, and stop limiting full electronic 
                press access to White House press briefings;
                    (H) promote democracy, freedom of the press, and 
                human rights in foreign policy;
                    (I) unequivocally acknowledge that Russia 
                interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential 
                election, and work to protect our electoral process 
                from any future foreign interference;
                    (J) refuse any offer to form any kind of 
                cybersecurity unit with the Russian Government to 
                purportedly protect the United States from election 
                hacking;
                    (K) respect the independence of our Nation's 
                judicial branch;
                    (L) respect Members of Congress and refrain from 
                using derogatory nicknames for them; and
                    (M) conduct United States foreign policy in a 
                manner that reflects the United States traditional role 
                as leader of the free world.
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