SR0473 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0473 LRB101 12707 ALS 61413 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump took the oath of office and became President of the United States; at that time, he reiterated that he would be "A President for all Americans"; and

WHEREAS, There are considerable ethical concerns in terms of the election and Donald Trump's selected staff; and

WHEREAS, Our democracy is premised on the bedrock principle that no one is above the law, not even the President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Donald J. Trump has attempted on two separate occasions to undermine this nation's Constitution by instituting travel bans targeting specific ethnic and religious minorities; and

WHEREAS, A recent rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric and criminal activity has been attributed to Americans that fervently support the Trump administration and have noted that Trump's nationalist rhetoric has emboldened them to carry out their hateful missions; and

WHEREAS, The Trump business empire has been embroiled in questionable business dealings, and Donald J. Trump has refused to release various financial records and documents concerning his personal income, along with that of his business; and

WHEREAS, The Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution provides that, besides the fixed salary for his or her four-year term, the President "shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them"; and

WHEREAS, The term "emoluments" includes a broad range of financial benefits, including but not limited to monetary payments, purchase of goods and services even for fair market value, subsidies, tax breaks, extensions of credit, and favorable regulatory treatment; and

WHEREAS, Leading constitutional scholars and government ethics experts warned Donald J. Trump shortly after the November 2016 election that, unless he fully divested his businesses and invested the money in conflict-free assets or a blind trust, he would violate the Constitution from the moment he took office; and

WHEREAS, On January 11, 2017, nine days before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump announced a plan that would, if carried out, remove him from day-to-day operations of his businesses but not eliminate any of the ongoing flow of emoluments from foreign governments, state governments, or the United States government; and

WHEREAS, From the moment he took office, President Trump was in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a federal lawsuit against Donald J. Trump alleging that his "business interests are creating countless conflicts of interest, as well as unprecedented influence by foreign governments"; and

WHEREAS, As Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to thwart investigations into his personal business dealings, he has also obstructed similar attempts to examine the Trump Administration's ties to representatives of hostile foreign nations; and

WHEREAS, In May of 2017, Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey as Mr. Comey began to intensify the Bureau's investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 General Election and the possibility of collaboration with the Trump campaign; and

WHEREAS, During a meeting at the White House on May 10, 2017, Donald J. Trump appears to have leaked highly classified information to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States Sergey Kislyak; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump made a series of false claims about immigration, such as stating that open borders bring tremendous crime, while undocumented immigrants, in truth, commit crimes at a lower rate than U.S. citizens; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump has used fearmongering to claim that a wall will stop drugs from coming across the country's borders, when most illegal drugs come through legal points of entry; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump has lied to the media about his plans to build a wall stretching over 400 miles, while signing spending bills only allowing for fencing; and

WHEREAS, More than 20 immigrants have died in ICE detention centers in the past two years; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump has falsely stated that the tax reforms he championed included the largest tax cuts ever passed, when, in reality, the cuts are smaller than two tax cuts passed under Barack Obama; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump's slogan, "Make America Great Again," promotes white supremacy, which is a racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump infringed on civil rights and insulted service members with his ban on transgender individuals enlisting in the military; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump took credit for funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative after initially planning to eliminate it; and

WHEREAS, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election has resulted in 34 indictments, seven guilty pleas, and four people in prison so far; and

WHEREAS, In his report, Special Counsel Robert Mueller documents multiple instances in which Donald Trump ordered others to interfere with or end his investigation; and

WHEREAS, Special Counsel Robert Mueller stated definitively that if he had been able to clear the President of obstruction of justice then he would have done so; and

WHEREAS, Donald Trump has told more than 10,000 lies to the people of the United States; and

WHEREAS, These violations truly undermine the integrity of the Presidency, corruptly advance the personal wealth of the President, and violate the public trust; and

WHEREAS, Section 4 of Article II of the United States Constitution provides, that "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United States House of Representatives to support a resolution authorizing and directing the House Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, including but not limited to the violations listed herein; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be transmitted to all members of the United States Senate, all members of the United States House of Representatives, all members of the Illinois General Assembly, and the Governor of the State of Illinois.