National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to discuss the Presidential Tax Transparency Act--legislation that I have authored with Senators Warren, Bennet, Kaine, Baldwin, and Boxer. The reason I proposed this legislation is that ever since Watergate, it has been routine for Democratic and Republican Presidential nominees to release their tax returns. In effect, this has been the norm; this has been the standard operating procedure for almost four decades. That is because the American people expect transparency when it comes to a Presidential candidate's actions and values.
They are running for the highest office in our land. They are running to be Commander in Chief for the most powerful Nation in the history of the world. When transparency is the overwhelming expectation of the American people regarding the Presidency, my view is it ought to be the law.
We are in the midst of a Presidential election. The nominating conventions are weeks away. One of the candidates who has become his party's presumptive nominee has thus far refused to release his tax returns. In my view, this is a clean break from decades of traditions in our elections. It is a rebuke of the overwhelming majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, who are demanding openness and honesty from their Presidential candidates of both political parties on this issue.
The reason is that tax returns give the American people a lot of straightforward, honest answers. It is not just about what rate you pay; it is about whether you even pay taxes. Do you give to charity? Are you abusing loopholes at the expense of hard-working middle-class families? Do you keep your money offshore?
The fact is the tax return shines a light on your financial integrity. It will show if a person is trying to game the system, for example, by having their company pay for personal vacations on a private jet. Certainly, that is something far removed from the reaches of most hard-working families.
My view has been that running for President is pretty much like a job interview. Every candidate has to stand up before the public and show that they have the temperament, the background, and the character to lead our wonderful country and be Commander in Chief. I believe that after decades of tradition, releasing tax returns is a big part of the process.
When it comes to a candidate's financial background in taxes, I don't think the public should have to take somebody's word for it or just accept the kind of boasting you see on some of these shows that get wide viewership. The public has a right to know the facts, and the public has a right to know the truth.
The proposal that my colleagues and I have proposed is pretty simple. It says that within 15 days of becoming the nominee at the party conventions, the candidates would be required to release at least 3 years of tax returns. If a nominee stonewalls the law and refuses, then the Treasury Secretary would share the returns with the Federal Election Commission, and that Commission would make them public online. There would be an opportunity as well for redactions, which, in effect, are changes when appropriate.
When Presidents nominate individuals for Cabinet seats and executive branch jobs within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee--the Treasury Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Social Security--those nominees all submit 3 years of tax returns for the committee to review. When there is a need and where it is appropriate, information from those returns is made public. Remember, that is the standard for people who would serve under the President of the United States. In my view, the Commander in Chief ought to be required to do better. The fact is, nominees have traditionally released a lot more than 3 years. So probably it is a bit modest, and a number of people who have looked at the proposal support what our colleagues and I are doing, like the transparency, like the disclosure. A number of them have said: You really ought to think about going further.
I think colleagues know that I probably have spent as much time here in the Senate as any colleague trying to promote ideas and policies and get beyond some of the partisanship that dominates these debates. I am talking about candidates on both sides being required to meet this new bar. The same rules would apply to all nominees from both parties.
A word about this notion of requiring a Presidential nominee to do this: I certainly wish that it weren't necessary to have a law requiring this. That would be my first choice. The fact is, it shouldn't take a law because this has been the norm; this has been the expectation.
This is how I came to believe that a law was necessary. You volunteer to run for President of our wonderful country. You are not required to do it; you volunteer to do it. In my view, when you volunteer, there has been this norm, and there has been this expectation. Since Watergate, almost 40 years, there has been this expectation that you would make public your tax return. The failure to do so deviates from the norm, deviates away from transparency and in favor of secrecy. So my view is, when a candidate for President of the United States is not willing to disclose their taxes voluntarily and deviates from the norm, deviates from the understandable expectation the American people have, then I think you need a law, and that is why I have proposed it.
For these four decades, the American people have been pretty clear: If you are a major party's nominee to be the leader of the free world, you do not get to hide your tax returns.
This is the first time I have discussed our proposal here on the floor. I hope our colleagues will support the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, and I hope our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will agree that the American people deserve this guarantee of tax transparency that I have described this afternoon. Recognizing Hermiston High School
Mr. President, I am going to speak briefly on one other matter that was particularly striking last week when I was home. I am going to talk for a few minutes about the wonderful work taking place at Hermiston High School in Eastern Oregon.
Last week, I had the honor of visiting the terrific Career and Technical Education Program--the CTE Program--in Hermiston, and I had a chance to watch some very impressive students in action. One of the programs I visited was the Columbia Basin Student Homebuilders Program that got off the ground with a small amount of State financial assistance. The reason I wanted to discuss it this afternoon is, I think this program that can be a model, not just for my State, but for the Nation. Students enrolled in the homebuilders program work with local construction professionals to actually build houses for their community. Under the supervision of a teacher, students learn all facets of planning, designing, and building a new energy-efficient home within a budget.
During my visit, Liz, a star high school senior and a future engineer, gave me a tour of this year's home. It is nothing short of gorgeous. At the end of the school year, this beautiful, custom- designed home is going to be sold to a lucky family. Students are involved in every bit of the process--from planning and design, to the actual construction, to the marketing and sale of the house. Revenue from the sale of the home funds the next project, so the next round of students in the program get to participate with no future funding required.
Hermiston High School's career and technical education courses demonstrate to students that their community leaders are committed to helping them prepare for a successful life right out of high school. One student I met, Hannah, told me about a recreation and tourism project that involves starting a hospitality business. She is working to expand her line of cupcakes to meet customer demands.
I note that the Presiding Officer has a great interest, as I do, in promoting recreation. That is why I have introduced the RNR bill, the Recreation Not Red-Tape Act.
I was struck by Hannah's expertise.
I note that the Presiding Officer probably saw this last Sunday. The Denver Post had an extraordinary article describing recreation as the economic engine of the future. I am not saying that just because they were kind to the RNR bill, but they talked about the promise of recreation and tourism, particularly for our part of the world.
I was so impressed with Hannah. I said: I am going to send you the RNR bill, and I would appreciate it if you and your colleagues would look for additional ways to cut the red-tape and promote recreation and tourism in Oregon, and throughout the West, and support our existing and future businesses.
The fact is that too many of our students are not graduating high school on time and far too many are unprepared for the workforce. Research has shown that students enrolled in career and technical education courses graduate from high school at a higher rate. In fact, the students at Hermiston High School told me their homebuilders program made them want to show up for school.
I am committed to increasing graduation rates in Oregon and across the country, and I think one of the best ways to do it is to support programs like the one in Hermiston, because I think it is tailor-made to achieve this goal.
Funding for Perkins Career and Technical Education Act courses is a way to make sure that programs like the one I just saw at Hermiston can be started around the country, but funding for these programs has been decreasing since 1998. At the same time, there is bipartisan consensus that career and technical education programs are important, not just for kids who want to be homebuilders but for all students. It seems to me that in overhauling the failed policies of No Child Left Behind, the Senate made a choice to move away from the era of over-tested ``bubble kids'' and towards an era of well-rounded, multi-skilled high school graduates. I am glad to see that the Senate HELP Committee is working hard on a proposal to reauthorize this career and technical education program, known as the Perkins Act. The last time it was reauthorized was in 1998. So I am going to work closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep pushing for a new bill.
The fact is that the educators I saw last week are ambitious by any measure. They saw that their students were not graduating with the skills necessary to be successful in their future school and work lives. So the local educators started partnerships with local architects, engineers, and other professionals. They created a unique program that blends innovative classroom instruction with real-world application. We have businesses directly engaging with young people. Not only do they show what kinds of jobs are available in the community, but they also prove that school is an important steppingstone in preparing students for the real world.
I have been in public service for a while. It is such a tremendous honor to represent Oregon in the Senate. But I will tell you, watching the way a small community in eastern Oregon, Hermiston, has come together and made a commitment to their young people is special. It is truly what we call the Oregon way.
I will close by way of saying that I am grateful to the school, Hermiston High School, for allowing me to visit. I will do everything I can to take the student homebuilder program that I saw last week and spread the word about what the potential is here. They already sold one house for a very healthy price, and I think we would be wise--again here in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans--to come together and support career technical education programs like the ones I saw in Hermiston and urge all of us here in the Senate, on a bipartisan basis, to support Federal and State assistance for these kinds of programs, career and technical education programs, for even more students from one end of our country to the other.
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