[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2359-S2360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. SCHUMER. One final matter today. Today, the Supreme Court will 
hear oral arguments in a case that will determine whether the President 
can block access to his tax returns and other financial documents.
  You may not think this is related to COVID, but in a certain sense, 
it is. In a sense, the case about the President's tax returns has 
something in common with the President's response to coronavirus: 
President Trump wants to hide the truth. He wants to hide the truth 
about coronavirus and the depth of the problem and how we deal with it. 
He wants to hide the truth and not release his tax returns.
  For 40 years, every President has disclosed his personal financial 
information to avoid even the perception of impropriety or self-
dealing, but this President has used every avenue to deny such 
transparency. What is President Trump hiding in his taxes? The 
President is not an ordinary citizen anymore; he is President of the 
United States. The American people have a

[[Page S2360]]

right to see how he has dealt with his taxes. President Trump has an 
obligation to show them. Why has President Trump fought so hard to deny 
the American people this information?
  If this Court wants to prove, at least in one step, that they are not 
highly political and don't always side with President Trump, I hope 
they will step up to the plate and rule that the President does not 
have the unilateral power to shield his tax returns from the American 
people. On this issue, like so many others, the American people deserve 
the truth--not what the President wants us to believe but the truth.
  I yield the floor
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Blackburn). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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