[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 180 (Tuesday, December 13, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEMANDING THE PRESIDENT-ELECT TO DISCLOSE, DETAIL, AND TOTALLY DIVEST 
 FINANCIAL HOLDINGS TO AVOID CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND TO COMPLY WITH 
                 EMOLUMENTS CLAUSE OF U.S. CONSTITUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to demand on behalf of the 
American people that the President-Elect disclose, detail, and divest, 
or place in a genuine blind trust, all, of his financial holdings prior 
to taking the oath of office so as to avoid major conflicts of interest 
and to comply with the Emoluments Clause of U.S. Constitution.
  As chief steward of America's extensive domestic, global, and 
national security interests, the fidelity of the President of the 
United States to the national interest must never be subject to 
question or doubt.
  The President-Elect's extensive financial interests in more than 100 
companies operating in more than 18 countries and on five continents 
potentially represent major conflicts of interest which can only be 
remedied by complete divestment or placing all of his assets in a 
genuine blind trust.
  As reflected in recent media reports, a preliminary analysis of the 
President-Elect's extensive financial arrangements reveals dozens of 
potential conflicts of interest.
  For example, the President-Elect has received more than $10 million 
from his interest in the Trump Towers Istanbul in Turkey, a country 
with which the United States has extensive, complicated, and 
politically sensitive military and diplomatic relations.
  Similarly, since August 2015, the President-Elect's business 
organizations has registered eight separate companies connected to 
hotel deals in Saudi Arabia, which is located in one of the world's 
most critical geopolitical regions.
  Based on the limited and inadequate financial disclosures he has made 
to date, it appears that the President-Elect's business organization is 
financially dependent upon, and obligated to, Deutsche Bank, its 
biggest lender, which happens to be negotiating a multibillion-dollar 
settlement over housing-crisis-era abuses with the Justice Department, 
a deal that will be finalized with Justice Department officials 
appointed by the President-Elect.
  Companies owned or controlled by the President-Elect's organization 
also owe hundreds of millions of dollars to the state-owned Bank of 
China and to Wall Street interests.
  The American people are entitled to assume without hesitation or 
doubt that when the President of the United States meets with foreign 
leaders and dignitaries that he is motivated only by what is in the 
national interest and not the private, pecuniary interests of himself, 
his family members, or his business enterprises.
  That assurance cannot be provided when the President of the United 
States has enormous financial stakes in the enterprises operating in 
those same foreign countries.
  It is for this reason--to ensure that the President's loyalty will 
always be to the nation he leads--that the Framers included the 
Emoluments Clause in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, which 
provides that ``no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under 
them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any 
King, Prince, or foreign State.''
  According to leading experts in ethics, a prohibited emolument would 
include, for example, anything from a foreign government that benefits 
the President-Elect, such as providing favorable tax, zoning, licensing 
treatment for his real estate holdings or enhanced security to protect 
his business operations.
  The financial interests of the President-Elect are extensive, 
complex, and inter-connected with the interests of foreign leaders and 
countries.
  They are all-encompassing and time-consuming.
  But they pale in comparison to the global, diplomatic, economic, and 
national security interests of the United States, which supersede the 
interests of any one person or corporation.
  As the Scriptures teach, you cannot serve two masters.
  The President-Elect must make a choice and act accordingly before he 
takes the oath of office. Either divest all of his financial interests 
or place them in a genuine blind trust or refrain from taking the oath 
of office and assuming the responsibility to ``take care that the Laws 
be faithfully executed'' and ``to preserve, protect, and defend the 
Constitution of the United States.''

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