Political Quotes

On the recordSeptember 15, 2016
Madam President and colleagues, I come to the Senate floor today to discuss S. 2979, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act. I am very pleased to see that my colleague on the Finance Committee who is such a valuable Member, Senator Cardin, is here as well. In America, nobody forces you to run for President. You volunteer to run for President, and this year we have had a bumper crop of volunteers. Since Watergate, there has been a bipartisan tradition honored by all candidates that they would release their tax returns. Every Democrat, every Republican, every liberal, every conservative has subscribed to honoring this particular tradition. Why is it so important? Tax returns say so much about a candidate for the world's most demanding job. Rather than the spin and deception that counts as messaging in a Presidential campaign, the tax returns are legally required to be an accounting in black and white of a candidate's honesty, integrity, and their personal priorities. A return can show whether a nominee has intimate connections to powerful interests in foreign governments whose priorities run contrary to the interests of typical Americans. A return highlights important questions about integrity. Are you the person giving to charity or, as some have wondered, are you converting another donor's gift into your own? Are you using charities for personal gain?…
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Ron Wyden
Democratic · Oregon

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