[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 94 (Thursday, June 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3271-S3272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Emoluments Clause

  Now on another matter, Madam President, today the U.S. District Court 
for the District of Columbia will hear oral arguments in a case 
concerning the potential violation of the emoluments clause by the 
President of the United States--none other than the President of the 
United States violating this clause. The emoluments clause of the 
Constitution of the United States--written over 200 years ago into the 
Constitution by our Founding Fathers--prohibits any member of our 
government from profiting from their office, accepting any present, 
emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any King, 
Prince, or foreign state.
  The reason for the emoluments clause is plain: The Framers were 
worried that members of our government could be co-opted or influenced 
by the bribery of foreign capitals and thus prohibited even the 
potential for self-enrichment. They knew then what we know now: We 
don't want double-dealing by our elected officials, and when they have 
private interests, you never know--are they acting in what they believe 
is the national interests or what will help make them a profit?
  With President Trump, we sincerely hope that no such self-enrichment 
is going on, but it remains a great concern to millions of Americans 
that President Trump has maintained a stake in vast business empire 
holdings all over the world. President Trump continues to profit from 
these holdings while he refuses to divest--an appalling departure from 
well-established practices of past Presidents. It shows a degree of 
selfishness that we haven't seen in Presidents. The President still 
refuses to disclose his tax returns and the precise extent of his 
foreign holdings--another radical and disturbing departure from past 
Presidents. This President acts like he is in the swamp, not like he is 
cleaning it up.
  The President's actions certainly present the possibility of exposure 
to violation of the emoluments clause, so I believe it is a good thing 
that the courts are looking at this issue and taking it seriously. That 
is what our Constitution says they should do. It is a good thing the 
courts are taking it seriously. We cannot afford to have the Office of 
the Presidency of the United States corrupted for narrow, selfish 
means.
  President Trump could easily--if you want to be President, you give 
up all the stuff you own. Every President has done it. There are blind 
trusts. There are all kinds of ways to do it. But this President seems 
to think he is measured by a different standard than anyone else. 
Everyone else makes their tax

[[Page S3272]]

returns public; he does not. Everyone else divests themselves of any 
interest in foreign business to avoid even the appearance of conflict; 
he does not. It is a double standard.
  When the President says he wants to clean up the swamp when he goes 
to his rallies and gets cheered, what are those people cheering for? He 
has made the swamp worse than any President I know.