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“UPHOLDING OUR NATION'S VALUES OF A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H883-H884 on Feb. 2, 2017.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UPHOLDING OUR NATION'S VALUES OF A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan) for 5 minutes.
Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, it is only day 13 into the Donald Trump administration and we are already faced with yet another round of questions about President Trump's potential conflicts of interest over his business holdings.
The most recent issue to raise questions is President Trump's Muslim ban executive order. At face value, this action looks like yet another harmful step in his divisive agenda. Trump's hateful scapegoating of refugees will make us less safe, and it goes against our country's moral fiber and small ``d'' democratic values. It is hard to believe that these seven countries were targeted based on a serious threat that was posed by their citizens who were traveling to the United States.
The people responsible for some of the most egregious attacks on American soil in recent decades, including 9/11, the Times Square bombing, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Pulse nightclub shooting, and others did not come from these seven countries. In fact, refugees from these countries already face a lengthy and rigorous vetting process led by our security intelligence agencies. This 20-step process involves multiple background checks, interviews, and screenings, and it frequently takes between 18 and 24 months for approval.
However, these seven countries do have at least one thing in common. According to Bloomberg News, The Trump Organization does not have business or has not pursued business deals in any of them. President Trump does, on the other hand, have business ties to other countries in the region that were excluded from the ban. His FEC filings indicate The Trump Organization has development projects in Saudi Arabia and business projects possibly related to Egypt. These countries were excluded from the executive order despite their being home to many of the terrorists who carried out 9/11. In Turkey, President Trump has a licensing deal for two luxury towers to use his name--a deal he received up to $5 million for just last year. He also has licensing agreements with businesses in other countries in the region.
I am not saying that we should ban people from these countries. I firmly oppose any ban that is based on nationality or religion, but it is unacceptable that business interests have played potentially a role in such a destructive policy that also makes our country less safe in the long run. This move will likely damage relationships with our Muslim allies who are fighting ISIS militants, and be used as a tool by the Islamic State to increase their recruitment and radicalization efforts.
Of course, my friends in the majority and in the White House claim that the seven countries under this order were similarly targeted by our previous administration. In reality, President Trump's discriminatory ban is drastically different than President Obama's specific changes to the State Department Visa Waiver Program, in which the changes focused on expedited visa privileges for dual nationals and did not target all citizens from specific countries; but I will bet you didn't hear Sean Spicer make that distinction. Instead, the administration is busy downplaying the number of people who were impacted by this decision and is claiming that only 109 people were affected--aka alternative facts. At least 700 people were denied boarding after the order was issued, and 90,000 people in these countries already have visas but will not be able to travel to the United States.
It is time for the President to stop defending his divisive and unconstitutional executive order and start being transparent about his business interests. Every President who has been elected in the modern era has released his tax records to ensure the American people that his actions will not be impacted by financial holdings. After promising throughout the campaign to release his tax returns, President Trump's advisers recently announced that he will indefinitely hide this information from the public. These holdings potentially put President Trump in direct violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution on day one.
The safeguard is designed to prevent corruption and foreign influence over policy decisions by not allowing Federal officials to take money from a foreign entity without there being congressional approval; but we have seen report after report of foreign leaders and diplomats choosing to stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in order to gain favor with the administration. They stand to profit from foreign governments, including a big paycheck from a Chinese bank, which is a large tenant at the Trump Tower. These are just tip-of-the-
iceberg examples of direct conflicts in both domestic and foreign policy under this President.
Mr. President, it is time for you to fix this. One, divest your business holdings immediately to remove any suggestion of there being a conflict in your decisionmaking. Two, show us your tax returns so that your business and financial interests are transparent to the American people. Three, get rid of your unconstitutional executive order, which will make us less safe and only serve to embolden our enemies.
Short of that, we will have to take other actions, including legislative directives, resolutions of disapproval, even exploring the power of impeachment.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
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