Press Releases
Members of Congress Should Disclose Unpaid Taxes
March 10, 2020
WASHINGTON - Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (IL-13) ordered the Previous Question on the House Floor today to offer Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's bill, H.R. 6177, which will require Members of Congress to disclose unpaid tax liabilities or garnishments in their annual financial disclosure reports.
Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL) orders previous question to consider H.R. 6177 on the House Floor. Click here to watch the video.
Read below for Ranking Member Davis' Floor remarks as delivered:
As my friend said, if we defeat the previous question, we will offer H.R. 6177.
Leader McCarthy's H.R. 6177 is simple – it requires Members of Congress to disclose unpaid tax liabilities and garnishments in their annual financial disclosure reports. As we approach tax season, where under penalty of fine or prison, we expect every American to file their taxes, those same hardworking Americans deserve to know whether their representatives are doing the same.
And like the American public, if a member of this body fails to meet their tax obligations, this bill requires their pay be placed into escrow until their tax obligation is met. This is responsible governing that informs the public and holds all of us accountable.
The House should advance this legislation today.
This bill falls under the jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration, and as Ranking Member I am prepared to help the Chief Administrative Officer execute this legislation.
Also, as Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, I have seen legislation run through this committee that tried to use the tax-dollars of hardworking Americans to fund their congressional campaigns. Every Democratic Member in this room – in this chamber – supported that bill when it was introduced. This 6 to 1 small-dollar match of campaign dollars would have created a mandatory donation from the American taxpayer to each congressional candidate, meaning for every $200 donated to a campaign, the federal government, taxpayers, would give $1200 to that Member of Congress' campaign.
Imagine if every Member of Congress – not counting all the candidates in each congressional race, just the current 435 Members – imagine if they receive just $1 million dollars in matched funds from the federal government, from the taxpayers; that's close to half of a billion dollars going to just the campaigns, the political coffers of Members of Congress.
If it is the positions of the Democratic Party to force Americans to support politicians with their tax dollars and raise the taxes of hardworking families, we should at least let those same Americans know which of us in this body are even paying our own taxes.
Thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time.