[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 57 (Monday, April 3, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H2615-H2616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE
PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I
rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges
of the House.
The form of the resolution is as follows:
A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives
that President Donald Trump shall publicly disclose his tax return
information, which would conform with an important tradition connected
to occupancy of the White House, as well as uphold his promise to the
American people that he would release his tax returns.
Whereas, every President since Gerald Ford has disclosed his tax
return information to the American people;
Whereas, in May 2014 Donald Trump stated during a television
interview: ``If I decide to run for office I'll produce my tax returns
absolutely. I would love to do that'';
Whereas, in February 2015 Donald Trump stated during a radio
interview: ``I have no objection to certainly showing tax returns'';
Whereas, in February 2016 Donald Trump stated during a televised
Republican Presidential debate: ``I will absolutely give my returns,
but I'm being audited now for two or three years, so I can't do it
until the audit is finished, obviously'';
Whereas, in May 2016 Donald Trump stated during a television
interview: ``I will really gladly give them. When the audit ends, I'll
present them. That should be before the election'';
Whereas, the IRS has made clear that any taxpayer, including Donald
Trump, may release his tax returns at any time while under audit;
Whereas, the House of Representatives by constitutional design is the
institution closest to the American people, and an overwhelming
majority of the American people think Donald Trump should release his
tax returns immediately;
Whereas, 17 different intelligence agencies in the United States have
concluded that Vladimir Putin and his Russian regime interfered with
our Presidential election for the purpose of helping Donald Trump;
Whereas, multiple high-level Trump associates were in regular contact
with Russian operatives and intelligence agents during the same time
that Russia was hacking into our democracy;
Whereas, multiple high-level Trump associates have financial ties to
the Russian regime;
Whereas, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign chairman,
engineered a pro-Russia change in the Republican Party platform in July
2016 and has received millions of dollars from pro-Russian oligarchs to
advance Putin's agenda;
Whereas, Michael Flynn, Donald Trump's first National Security
Adviser, resigned in disgrace for misleading to Vice President Mike
Pence about potentially unlawful phone calls to the Russian Ambassador
and failed to disclose financial compensation received from a Russian
propaganda media outlet closely tied to Vladimir Putin;
Whereas, Carter Page, a top foreign policy adviser to the Trump
campaign, has now acknowledged visiting the Kremlin in the midst of the
2016 Presidential election;
Whereas, Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's Attorney General, misled the
Senate under oath by failing to disclose his meetings with the Russian
Ambassador that took place in July 2016 at the Republican National
Convention and again in September of 2016;
Whereas, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's personal attorney, now
acknowledges being in contact with Russian operatives at the same time
the attacks on our democracy were taking place;
[[Page H2616]]
Whereas, Jared Kushner, a senior White House advisor and Donald
Trump's son-in-law, now acknowledges previously undisclosed meetings
with the Russian Ambassador;
Whereas, Roger Stone, a self-described political trickster and Donald
Trump's long-time consigliere, now acknowledges being in contact with
the Russian-aligned hacker Guccifer II and predicted during the
campaign that John Podesta's emails would soon be exposed;
Whereas, Ian Fleming, the renowned British author has observed,
``Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy
action'';
Whereas, Donald Trump has shown an unrestrained willingness to
criticize and insult allies of the United States of America;
Whereas, Donald Trump wrongly accused Great Britain, our closest
ally, of wiretapping Trump Tower in New York City;
Whereas, Donald Trump declined to shake German Chancellor Angela
Merkel's hand while seated together during their recent joint
appearance at the White House;
Whereas, Donald Trump stated in a recent C-PAC speech that ``Paris is
no longer Paris'';
Whereas, Donald Trump threatened to cancel a refugee transfer
agreement with our ally Australia and reportedly hung up on the Prime
Minister;
Whereas, Donald Trump told the President of Mexico that America would
deploy military personnel to that sovereign nation if our southern
neighbor does not deal with its ``bad hombres'';
Whereas, Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized our strategic and
military alliance with Western European allies and called NATO
``obsolete'';
Whereas, Donald Trump refuses to say a negative word about Vladimir
Putin or his corrupt Russian regime;
Whereas, Bill O'Reilly interviewed Donald Trump on Super Bowl Sunday
and asked about Putin's brutal and murderous regime;
Whereas, Donald Trump responded, ``There are a lot of killers. You
think our country's so innocent?'', suggesting a moral equivalence
between the United States and Russia;
Whereas, Yogi Berra, the great Yankee catcher and philosopher-King,
once observed ``that's too coincidental to be a coincidence'';
Whereas, Donald Trump tweeted on January 11: ``I have nothing to do
with Russia--no deals, no loans, no nothing''
Whereas, Donald Trump Jr. once stated: ``Russians make up a pretty
disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of
money pouring in from Russia'';
Whereas, disclosure of Donald Trump's tax returns will help the
American people and their elected Representatives in this House better
understand Trump's financial ties, if any, to Putin's Russia;
Whereas, the American people have a right to know whether financial
conflicts of interest exist between the President of the United States
and a hostile foreign power;
Whereas, the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee, Joint
Committee on Taxation, and Senate Finance Committee have the authority
to request Donald Trump's tax returns under section 6103 of the Tax
Code; and
Whereas, the FBI is conducting a criminal and counterintelligence
investigation into Russian interference with the recent Presidential
election, including possible collusion between the Trump campaign and
the Kremlin:
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives
shall:
One, immediately request tax return information of Donald J. Trump
for tax years 2007 through 2016 for review in closed executive session
by the Committee on Ways and Means, as provided under section 6103 of
the Internal Revenue Code, and vote to report the information therein
to the full House of Representatives; and
Two, postpone consideration of comprehensive tax reform legislation
until after the elected Representatives of the American people in this
House have been able to review Trump's tax returns and ascertain how
any changes to the Tax Code might financially benefit the President of
the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, a resolution offered from the
floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority leader
as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence
only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative days after
the resolution is properly noticed.
Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the
gentleman from New York will appear in the Record at this point.
The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.
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