IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 456 
Objecting to the conduct of the President of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2017 
Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 
Ms. LEE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. LEWIS of 
Georgia, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. BASS, Mr. 
ELLISON, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. POCAN, 
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BEYER, 
Mr. NADLER, Mr. TED LIEU of California, and Mr. CA´RDENAS) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees 
on the Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Objecting to the conduct of the President of the United 
States. 
Whereas, on January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump swore to 
‘‘faithfully execute the Office of President of the United 
States’’ and to ‘‘preserve, protect and defend the Con-
stitution of the United States.’’; 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Whereas the Constitution prohibits Federal office holders 
from accepting emoluments of any kind from a foreign 
state without the consent of Congress; 
Whereas President Trump has refused to divest, place into a 
blind trust, or otherwise give up his ownership interest in 
his worldwide business holdings since becoming Presi-
dent; 
Whereas President Trump has refused to release his tax re-
turns, in a break from the practice of United States 
Presidents for more than 40 years; 
Whereas, on February 14, 2017, the Chinese Government 
registered a trademark to Donald John Trump for brand-
ed construction services, following a 10-year legal battle 
that turned in Donald John Trump’s favor after he de-
clared his candidacy for President of the United States; 
Whereas, on February 27, 2017, and March 6, 2017, the 
Chinese Government granted preliminary approval of 38 
new trademarks to Donald John Trump and one of his 
companies, and the director of a Hong Kong intellectual 
property consultancy said he had never seen so many ap-
plications approved so expeditiously, and the approvals 
closely followed President Trump’s decision to honor the 
one-China policy, in contrast to his earlier statements; 
Whereas President Trump did not first seek or obtain the 
consent of Congress before accepting any of these trade-
mark benefits from China; 
Whereas President Trump owns approximately 77 percent of 
the Trump Old Post Office LLC, which holds a lease 
from the General Services Administration to operate the 
Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC; 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Whereas the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, 
has actively courted foreign diplomats for their business 
and, according to public reports since the November 2016 
election, diplomats have made plans to stay at the hotel 
to curry favor with Donald John Trump and, whereas, 
some diplomats have said spending money at Trump’s 
hotel is an easy, friendly gesture to the new President; 
Whereas, in late January 2017, a lobbying firm working for 
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia paid for a room at the 
Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, after In-
auguration Day as part of its effort to bring activists to 
Washington to urge Congress to repeal the law letting 9/ 
11 victims’ families sue the Kingdom; 
Whereas the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, 
has reportedly taken in $270,000 in payments tied to 
Saudi Arabia for expenses including lodging, catering, 
and parking expenses; 
Whereas, on February 22, 2017, the Embassy of Kuwait held 
its National Day Celebration at Trump International 
Hotel Washington, DC; 
Whereas, on or about April 6, 2017, the Ambassador and 
Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Na-
tions stayed at Trump International Hotel in Wash-
ington, DC; 
Whereas President Trump did not first seek or obtain the 
consent of Congress before accepting any of the benefits 
from foreign states derived from their patronage of the 
Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC; 
Whereas President Trump owns Trump Tower, a mixed-use 
skyscraper in New York City and at least two tenants of 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Trump Tower are entities owned by foreign states, in-
cluding— 
(1) the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, 
which is owned by China; and 
(2) Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which 
is owned by the United Arab Emirates; 
Whereas President Trump did not first seek or obtain the 
consent of Congress before accepting any of the benefits 
from foreign states derived from their patronage of the 
Trump Tower in New York City; 
Whereas President Trump owns Trump World Tower in New 
York City and whereas, in 2001, the Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia purchased a floor of Trump World Tower and the 
floor currently belongs to the Saudi Mission to the 
United Nations; 
Whereas President Trump has not sought or obtained the 
consent of Congress for any benefits he has received, 
such as monthly assessments, from Saudi Arabia due to 
its use of Trump World Tower in New York City; 
Whereas President Trump is an executive producer of ‘‘The 
Apprentice’’ and the state-owned television station BBC 
One in the United Kingdom pays licensing fees to broad-
cast the show; 
Whereas President Trump has not sought or obtained the 
consent of Congress before accepting benefits from the 
United Kingdom, or any other foreign government, in the 
form of licensing fees for ‘‘The Apprentice’’; 
Whereas President Trump’s travel to resorts in which he has 
an ownership interest, such as Mar-a-Lago in Palm 
Beach, Florida, the Trump National Golf Club in 
Bedminster, New Jersey, and the Trump National Golf 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Club in Sterling, Virginia, costs taxpayers millions of dol-
lars while such resorts receive the benefit of publicity; 
Whereas President Trump appointed Retired Lieutenant 
General Michael Flynn to serve as National Security Ad-
visor; 
Whereas, on January 26, 2017, Acting Attorney General 
Sally Yates warned White House Counsel Don McGahn 
that National Security Advisor Flynn had misled Vice 
President Mike Pence about his communications with 
Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey 
Kislyak, and that, as a result, Flynn was at risk of being 
blackmailed by the Russians; 
Whereas Flynn was not asked to resign from the Administra-
tion until February 13, 2017; 
Whereas, on January 27, 2017, President Trump invited 
FBI Director James Comey to a one-on-one dinner at the 
White House, during which he told Director Comey he 
needed loyalty; 
Whereas, on February 14, 2017, President Trump told Di-
rector James Comey, ‘‘I hope you can see your way clear 
to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,’’ and, ‘‘He is a 
good guy. I hope you can let this go.’’; 
Whereas, on March 20, 2017, Director James Comey testi-
fied before Congress that the FBI was investigating Rus-
sian interference with the 2016 United States Presi-
dential election and whether there was any collusion with 
the Trump campaign; 
Whereas, on May 9, 2017, while the FBI was investigating 
whether there was any collusion between the Trump cam-
paign and Russia, President Trump fired FBI Director 
James Comey; 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Whereas in his letter informing Director James Comey that 
he was being terminated, President Trump said, ‘‘While 
I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate 
occasions, that I am not under investigation, I neverthe-
less concur with the judgment of the Department of Jus-
tice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bu-
reau.’’; 
Whereas, on May 12, 2017, while speaking in a nationally 
televised interview about his decision to fire Director 
James Comey, President Trump said, ‘‘And in fact when 
I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, 
this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up 
story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an 
election that they should have won.’’; 
Whereas, according to a published report, President Trump 
told Russian officials, ‘‘I just fired the head of the FBI. 
He was crazy, a real nut job . . . I faced great pressure 
because of Russia. That’s taken off.’’; 
Whereas, on May 12, 2017, President Trump tweeted, 
‘‘James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of 
our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!’’; 
Whereas, on June 22, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ‘‘With 
all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, inter-
cepts unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I 
have no idea . . . whether there are ‘tapes’ or recordings 
of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not 
make, and do not have, any such recordings’’; 
Whereas, on March 4, 2017, President Trump tweeted, ‘‘Ter-
rible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ 
in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. 
This is McCarthyism!’’ and, ‘‘How low has President 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred 
election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) 
guy!’’; 
Whereas, on March 20, 2017, at a hearing of the Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep-
resentatives, both FBI Director James Comey and Na-
tional Security Agency Director Mike Rogers both denied 
there was any information supporting President Trump’s 
allegation that President Obama had wiretapped Presi-
dent Trump; 
Whereas, on May 10, 2017, while hosting Russian Foreign 
Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the 
United States Sergey Kislyak at the White House, Presi-
dent Trump revealed highly classified ‘‘code-word’’ level 
information to Ambassador Kislyak, concerning informa-
tion from a United States intelligence partner; 
Whereas President Trump prohibited American press from 
witnessing his May 10, 2017, meeting with Russian For-
eign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to 
the United States Sergey Kislyak at the White House, 
but allowed a Russian photographer to have access; 
Whereas, on April 29, 2017, while speaking by telephone with 
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, President Trump 
revealed that the United States had two nuclear sub-
marines near North Korea; 
Whereas, in February 2017, while President Trump hosted 
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Mar-a-Lago 
Club, President Trump discussed a ballistic missile test 
by North Korea in an unsecured dining terrace in view 
of club dining patrons; 
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•HRES 456 IH 
Whereas President Trump has appointed his son-in-law, 
Jared Kushner, to serve as an envoy to foreign leaders, 
despite having no diplomatic experience; 
Whereas United States foreign policy has long been based on 
both our Nation’s interest as well as our values, including 
democracy, freedom of the press, and promotion of 
human rights; 
Whereas, on April 3, 2017, when speaking about Egyptian 
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, President Trump said, 
‘‘We agreed on so many things. I just want to let every-
body know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very 
much behind President al-Sisi. He’s done a fantastic job 
in a very difficult situation.’’; 
Whereas President al-Sisi rose to power in a coup, and in his 
country antigovernment protests have been banned, free-
dom of press and freedom of religion have been re-
pressed, some independent human rights groups have 
been banned, and it has been estimated that 60,000 po-
litical prisoners have been detained; 
Whereas, on April 29, 2017, President Trump invited Phil-
ippines President Rodrigo Duterte to visit him at the 
White House, despite the fact that Duterte has been ac-
cused of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects; 
Whereas, on March 17, 2017, President Trump refused to 
shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand in an 
Oval Office meeting; 
Whereas, on May 25, 2017, President Trump pushed aside 
Montenegro Prime Minister Dusko Markovic in order to 
move to the front of a group of NATO leaders; 
Whereas President Trump has been slow to fill critical diplo-
matic posts including the United States Ambassadors to 
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