WASHINGTON — Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) – Member of the Ways and Means Committee – released the following statement:
“Tonight I voted to send to the full House the Ways and Means report, including supporting documentation, demonstrating that the IRS policy of examining Presidents’ tax returns is woefully insufficient and requires a legislative fix.
“I did not make this decision lightly. From our founding, the United States was established to be a nation ruled by laws, not kings. No one is above the law, including and especially the President. Americans need to be able to trust that the President pays taxes like anyone else. That is why in 1977 the IRS implemented a policy of mandatory examination (audit) of Presidential tax returns.
“This Congress, the Ways and Means Committee conducted an investigation of the 1977 Mandatory Audit Policy and discovered that the policy was not well defined and poorly executed, to the point of being dormant. Today, the Committee deliberated on the report of the investigation in an hours long, closed door session. The Committee ultimately voted to release the report with supporting documentation—including several years of President’s Trumps returns— to the full House. I voted in favor in order to properly inform consideration of legislation to require the IRS to audit future President’s tax returns in a timely and comprehensive manner.”
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