On the recordJune 7, 2017
Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of the House that was previously noticed. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution. The Clerk read as follows: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President shall immediately release his tax return information to Congress and the American people. Whereas, in the United States' system of checks and balances, Congress has a responsibility to hold the Executive Branch of government to a fair and equal standard of transparency ensuring the public interest is placed first; Whereas, according to the Tax History Project, every President since Gerald Ford has disclosed their tax return information to the public; Whereas, tax returns provide an important baseline of reasonable information including whether the President paid taxes, ownership interests, charitable donations made, and whether tax deductions have been exploited; Whereas, disclosure of the President's tax returns could help those investigating Russian influence in the 2016 election understand the President's financial ties to the Russian Federation and Russian citizens, including debts owed and whether he shares any partnership interests, equity interests, joint ventures or licensing agreements with Russia or Russians; Whereas, the President recently fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, under whose leadership the FBI was investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 201…





