Presidential Tax Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. WARREN. Madam President, I am on the floor today to talk about the Presidential Tax Transparency Act. It is a simple proposal that would require every Presidential candidate of a major party to release their tax returns. Hillary Clinton has already done it. In fact, every single general election candidate in the past nine elections has done it.

I will be honest. This is not the kind of legislation that I thought Congress would ever need to pass, but, like a lot of people, I never thought that someone like Donald Trump would be the nominee of a major political party. Donald Trump makes a big show, strutting around, pretending to be tough, but he is too chicken to show his tax returns to the American people. He has had a million excuses, but we all know why Donald Trump isn't releasing his taxes. He is hiding something.

For a long time I wasn't sure what he was hiding. But thanks to the tireless work of journalists and experts, we at least have some clues about what he is hiding. We don't know everything, but slowly some of his secrets are starting to leak to the public, and they are not pretty.

Let's start with the tax scams that we know about. Here are just three of them.

The first scam is claiming tax credits for homeowners who make less than $500,000 a year. He wasn't eligible, so he lied--nothing fancy. Eventually, the press caught wind of it, and Trump paid up. And if he hadn't been caught, he would still be lying about it today.

Here is another Trump tax scam. Scoop up hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate developer subsidies, then skip out on paying any income taxes. In 1978, 1979, 1991, and 1993, Trump paid zero dollars in income taxes--zero, and that is not a comprehensive list of his zero- tax years. It is just the years when, for one reason or another, his tax returns were public.

Here is the third Trump tax scam. In this campaign, Trump claims the charitable deduction when he gives money to his own foundation, and then he uses that foundation for personal expenses and campaign fundraising.

That is just the stuff we know about. So how bad are the things we don't know about? The American people should see Donald Trump's tax returns so they can decide for themselves if his shameful and, in some cases, illegal behavior disqualifies him from being President.

The tax scams are awful, but they are a sideshow compared to what else is probably tucked away in his tax returns. Those tax returns would show his personal deals with foreign governments, arrangements that could put him in direct conflict with American interests.

We already know about some of Trump's foreign dealings. We know he has gotten Russian oligarchs with close ties to Vladimir Putin to fund his businesses. Is he still doing that?

We know he has financial ties to political dynasties in Turkey. We know he is wrapped up in aggressive pipeline plans in North and East India.

The list of countries where Trump has financial conflicts is staggering: South Korea, India, Turkey, Libya, Russia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates.

Remember the Libyan dictator Qadhafi. Back in 2009, Trump was set to lease his own estate to the dictator, but local protests shut that down. So who else has he been leasing his home to--Putin? I mean, maybe Trump's next business will be Airbnb for dictators.

Tax returns will not tell us everything, but we know that they will tell us something about what Trump is hiding. Donald Trump praises brutal dictators and murderers. He threatens our allies. He denigrates democracy right here at home. He is right out front with all of that stuff.

What is so bad that Donald Trump has to hide it? Would his tax returns show how deeply Donald Trump's personal, financial interests run directly counter to the national interests of the United States of America?

It is 8 weeks before a national election. Everyone wants Donald Trump to do what other candidates--Republican candidates and Democratic candidates--have done and disclose his financial information to the American people.

George W. Bush's IRS Commissioner has said: Trump should release his taxes, period.

The IRS Chief Counsel for Ronald Reagan has said the same thing: Trump should release his taxes, period.

Ted Cruz has released his taxes. John Kasich released his taxes. Jeb Bush released his taxes going all the way back to 1981.

Look, it is no surprise that Trump thinks the rules don't apply to him; he never does. But the American people are not going to buy a pig in a poke. He should release his taxes voluntarily. But since he will not, then we should pass the Presidential Tax Transparency Act and make him release those taxes.

No one knows what he is up to with Russia, Libya, or any other country. Let's take a look at his taxes and find out.

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