Jim Bunning: “I want to explain why I will vote no on the nomination of Robert D. Reischauer to serve as a public trustee of the…”

“I want to explain why I will vote no on the nomination of Robert D. Reischauer to serve as a public trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Programs. Although he has a Ph.D. in economics and extensive experience with Federal budgetary matters as former head of the Congressional Budget Office, Dr. Reischauer claimed that he did not understand his basic responsibility under Federal law to report income on his tax returns from 2004 to 2008. He only paid back taxes on rental property in Canada when he brought his failure to the attention of the White House during the vetting process. On his Finance Committee questionnaire, which he signed under penalty of perjury, he claimed this was an 'oversight' he did not discover until 2009. But in discussions with bipartisan committee staff, he appeared to tell a different story and said it was a deliberate choice he made at the time he filled out his tax returns. In the same meeting, he said he was sorry that he told the White House. And while he said that he had offsetting expenses that would have canceled out his tax liability and produced a loss, Dr. Reischauer kept no receipts or records of those expenses, saying that he paid off workers in cash. It appears that Dr. Reischauer was not truthful or careful about his Federal responsibility to report income. Someone who has not earned the public trust is not qualified to be a public trustee, and that is why I oppose his confirmation.”