[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 68 (Thursday, April 20, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E514-E515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE RIGHT TO DEMAND THE PRESIDENT RELEASE HIS TAX 
                                RETURNS

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 20, 2017

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, every year at this time tens of 
millions of Americans are completing their tax returns and rushing to 
the nearest post office to mail them before the deadline.
  No one likes to pay taxes but the vast majority of Americans 
voluntarily comply out of their respect for law and because paying 
taxes is one of the responsibilities of citizenship.
  That responsibility is placed upon and assumed by struggling wage 
earners to the wealthiest individuals in America.
  And that even includes the President of the United States.
  Americans have the right to expect and to know that the leader of 
their country, and the most powerful person on Earth, is paying his 
fair share of taxes that fund the government he heads, the Armed Forces 
he commands, the nuclear arsenal he controls, the Secret Service 
protection he receives, and the White House he lives in.

[[Page E515]]

  And that is why thousands of persons took to the streets last 
Saturday in peaceful protest to demand that the President of the United 
States do what every President since Gerald Ford in 1976 has done.
  And that is to release his tax returns while in office.
  Trump is the first President since Watergate to refuse to release his 
tax information to the public.
  Full release of Trump's tax returns will provide the public with 
clear information as to his potential conflicts of interest and 
entanglements with foreign governments and businesses.
  A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 74 percent of 
Americans, including 53 percent of Republicans, believe Trump should 
release his tax returns.
  All roads lead back to the President's tax returns, and the light 
they can shine on his actions.
  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.
  Trump'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 between his personal financial 
interests and the national interests of the American people.
   A preliminary analysis of Trump's extensive financial arrangements 
reveals dozens of potential conflicts of interest.
  For example, Trump 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.
  Since August 2015, Trump's business organizations have 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 Trump'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 Trump.
  Companies owned or controlled by Trump'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 and refuses to release his tax returns for 
examination by the public.
  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 
Trump, 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 Trump 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.
  And that is why, Mr. Speaker, I believe the President must make a 
choice, either he should:
  1. release his tax returns and divest all of his financial interests; 
or
  2. relinquish the office he holds due to his inability 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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