U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, today voted in favor of H.R. 9640, the Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act to enshrine legal requirements for auditing all American Presidents. The House’s passage of the bill follows the House Ways and Means Committee releasing a blockbuster report detailing failures within the IRS’s presidential audit program, as well as Donald Trump’s business and personal tax returns after six years of Republican obstruction.

Rep. Pascrell has been the most vocal proponent of the Congress reviewing Donald Trump’s tax returns. Since February 2017, Pascrell has led the call for the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means to invoke Section 6103 of the tax code to obtain Trump’s tax returns. In the 115th Congress, Republicans voted 18 times to block Democratic resolutions seeking the tax returns. Pascrell had a fiery exchange in March 2020 with disgraced former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for his illegal refusal to provide Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.

In support of the legislation passed by the House today, Pascrell placed the following remarks into the permanent record.

Remarks of Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. in support of the Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act

I was the first member who advocated for reviewing and releasing Donald Trump’s tax returns. I’ve been on this quest for nearly six years.

I applaud Chairman Neal for fighting until the very end. This was not about one man. The law was always on our side.

Our committee investigation makes crystal clear why Trump and his cronies obstructed our work. Trump’s handpicked Treasury Secretary and IRS head were at best derelict. At worst they were corrupt and criminal.

Trump paid a pittance in taxes for years. He overinflated losses to shirk his duty as an American citizen.

Trump’s government failed to conduct a mandatory review of his tax records. They broke the law. 

We provided the IRS with funds to prevent tax cheats from abusing our tax code. Now, we must ensure the IRS cannot meddle with the audit process and presidential returns are made public.

Americans must have faith that our tax system is fair. No one is above the law. 

It is time to act. Thank you.