[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 26 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. J. RES. 26
Denying congressional consent for President Donald J. Trump to accept
any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from
any King, Prince, or foreign state throughout the tenure of his
Presidency.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 10, 2017
Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Takano, Ms. Lee, Mr.
Cohen, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Connolly, Mr.
Nadler, Mr. Soto, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Blumenauer,
Mr. Ellison, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Peters, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Hanabusa, Mr.
McGovern, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of
Texas, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Courtney, Mrs.
Bustos, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Speier, Mr.
Pocan, Ms. Pingree, and Ms. Sanchez) submitted the following joint
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
JOINT RESOLUTION
Denying congressional consent for President Donald J. Trump to accept
any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from
any King, Prince, or foreign state throughout the tenure of his
Presidency.
Whereas article I, section 9 of the Constitution provides as follows: ``No Title
of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding
any office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of
the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.'';
Whereas our Founding Fathers identified the importance of and included a broad
anticorruption measure known as the Emolument Clause to preserve
independence from external influence of any holders of public office of
profit or trust;
Whereas the Framers inclusion of the Emoluments Clause covers more than just
overt quid pro quo bribery and anything of any value whatever, but also
encompassed the way judgment could be clouded by private concerns and
improper dependencies, incidents where politicians and public
institutions serve private interests at the public's expense;
Whereas the Framers strict Constitutional rule protected the most vital
safeguard of freedom: the preservation of exclusive loyalty of Federal
officeholders to the best interests of the United States of America, the
provision guards against after-the-fact corruption;
Whereas it has been widely accepted for almost two centuries that the Emoluments
Clause applies to the President of the United States; and
Whereas President Donald J. Trump will be in violation of the Emolument Clause
from the moment he executes the Oath of Office unless he is divested of
his numerous domestic and foreign business interests: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the ``No Congressional
Consent for President Donald J. Trump To Accept Foreign Emoluments of
Any Kind Whatsoever''.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF FOREIGN EMOLUMENTS.
(a) In General.--The President, as holder of a Federal office, is
subject to the strict scrutiny of the Emoluments Clause.
(b) Congressional Consent.--As a holder of office of profit or
trust, the President shall not accept any present, Emolument, Office,
or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign
state, without the consent of Congress.
(c) Emolument Qualification.--Historic meaning and precedent
provides that what qualifies as an Emolument is given broad
construction, further broadened by the inclusion ``of any kind
whatever,'' leaving Congress with the power to consent or deny consent
to a full spectrum of transactions.
(d) King, Prince, or Foreign State.--Emoluments reach not only
foreign states, but also their agents and instrumentalities, and
precedent has determined that corporations owned or controlled by a
foreign government are presumptively foreign states.
(e) No Consent To Accept Foreign Emoluments.--The authority granted
in article I, section 9, and reaffirmed in subsection (b) hereby denies
congressional consent to allow President Donald J. Trump to accept any
present, Emolument, Office, or Title of any kind whatever, from any
King, Prince, or foreign state.
(f) Applicability of Other Requirements.--
(1) Nothing in this joint resolution supersedes any
requirement of related laws that limit the principle that
Presidents are entitled to presumptions of good faith and
public interestedness in their official conduct.
(2) Nothing in this joint resolution may be construed to
imply that an explicit congressional denial of consent is
required in order to trigger the prohibition of the Emoluments
Clause; on the contrary, only an explicit grant of
congressional consent can overcome the prohibition; this joint
resolution thus represents not a necessary step to invocation
and enforcement of the Clause but only a step taken to
underscore the sense of Congress that compliance with the
Clause is a matter of the greatest urgency and importance.
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
President Donald J. Trump shall submit, within 30 days after the
enactment of this joint resolution, to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate a report on
matters relevant to this joint resolution, including a detailed account
of actions taken to ensure compliance with the Constitution's article
I, section 9, also known as the Emoluments Clause.
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