Calling on President Donald J. Trump to comply with the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 51 Calling on President Donald J. Trump to comply with the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 28, 2019 Ms. LOFGREN submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Calling on President Donald J. Trump to comply with the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution. Whereas article 1, section 9, clause 8 of the United States Constitution states: ‘‘no person holding any office of prof- it or trust . . . shall, without the consent of the Con- gress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, for any king, prince, or foreign state’’; Whereas in Federalist No. 22 (Alexander Hamilton) it is said, ‘‘One of the weak sides of republics, among their numerous advantages, is that they afford too easy an inlet to foreign corruption’’; Whereas the delegates to the Constitutional Convention spe- cifically designed the Emoluments Clause as an antidote to potentially corrupting foreign practices of a kind that VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Jun 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HCON 51 IH the Framers had observed during the period of the Con- federation; Whereas the word emoluments means profit, salary, fees, or compensation which would include direct payment as well as other benefits including extension of credit, forgiveness of debt, or the granting of rights of pecuniary value; Whereas in 2009, the Office of Legal Counsel clarified that corporations owned or controlled by foreign governments presumptively qualify as foreign States under the Foreign Emoluments Clause; Whereas against the advice of ethics attorneys and the Office of Government Ethics, the President has refused to di- vest his ownership stake in his businesses; Whereas the then-Director of the nonpartisan Office of Gov- ernment Ethics said that the President’s transfer of his business holdings to a trust managed by family members is ‘‘meaningless’’ and ‘‘does not meet the standards that . . . every president in the past four decades has met’’; Whereas Congress has previously given its consent for sitting presidents to accept foreign emoluments, after being given the opportunity to review the gift; Whereas Congress can only give its consent for emoluments received by a president if the president provides informa- tion on the emoluments he has received from foreign sources, including the amount, the source, and the cir- cumstances under which the emolument was received; Whereas President Trump has failed to provide Congress the opportunity to review any information related to emolu- ments he has received and continues to receive, denying Congress the opportunity to fulfill its duty to review and consent to the emoluments; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Jun 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HCON 51 IH Whereas the President is a part owner of an office building on the Avenue of the Americas in New York City, report- edly carrying a $950 million loan, partially held by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China; Whereas the Governments of Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Ku- wait, Qatar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, and Thai- land all leased space in Trump World Tower in Manhat- tan during the first eight months of the presidency; Whereas since the start of his presidency, the Government of China has approved 40 new trademarks to President Trump and his companies; Whereas in January and February 2017, the Saudi Govern- ment paid $270,000 for a lobbying firm’s hotel room and other expenses at Trump International Hotel Wash- ington, DC; Whereas on February 25, 2017, the Embassy of Kuwait held its National Day Celebration at Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, reportedly spending an esti- mated amount between $40,000 and $60,000 on the cele- bration; Whereas the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Romania have stayed at the Trump International Hotel during official visits to Washington, DC; Whereas in September, Turkish Airlines, which is partly owned by the Turkish Government, held its World Golf Cup at the Trump National Golf Club—DC in Potomac Falls, Virginia; Whereas government-run television networks in the United Kingdom and Vietnam pay royalties for broadcasting spinoffs of the Celebrity Apprentice, a show for which the President retains his Executive Producer title; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Jun 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HCON 51 IH Whereas the President continues to engage in business trans- actions with foreign governments by maintaining a busi- ness interest in over 500 entities including, both commer- cial and residential real estate properties, management and media companies, and shell corporations set up to capitalize on licensing deals: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 1 concurring), That Congress— 2 (1) calls on President Donald J. Trump to take 3 measures, consistent with the advice of the Office of 4 Legal Ethics and precedent set by previous Presi- 5 dents, to ensure compliance with the Emoluments 6 Clause of the United States Constitution; 7 (2) declares President Donald J. Trump’s re- 8 ceipt of foreign emoluments without the opportunity 9 for Congressional review and consent a violation of 10 the Emoluments Clause of the United States Con- 11 stitution; and 12 (3) directs President Donald J. Trump to dis- 13 close to Congress all information related to foreign 14 emoluments received, including but not limited to 15 personal and business tax documents, to enable Con- 16 gress to fulfill its Constitutional duty to ensure that 17 Federal officeholders are free of corruption. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Jun 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS