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 
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•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; 
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•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 
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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 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) calls on President Donald J. Trump to take 
measures, consistent with the advice of the Office of 
Legal Ethics and precedent set by previous Presi-
dents, to ensure compliance with the Emoluments 
Clause of the United States Constitution; 
(2) declares President Donald J. Trump’s re-
ceipt of foreign emoluments without the opportunity 
for Congressional review and consent a violation of 
the Emoluments Clause of the United States Con-
stitution; and 
(3) directs President Donald J. Trump to dis-
close to Congress all information related to foreign 
emoluments received, including but not limited to 
personal and business tax documents, to enable Con-
gress to fulfill its Constitutional duty to ensure that 
Federal officeholders are free of corruption. 
Æ 
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