WASHINGTON, D.C. April 5, 2017— The Tax March today announced that Ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden, Ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters, Representative Jamie Raskin, Demos President Heather McGhee, NETWORK Executive Director Sister Simone Campbell, PICO National Network Political Director Bishop Dwayne Royster, Rabbi Nehama Benmosche of Machar: The Washington Congregation for Secular Humanistic Judaism, Public Citizen Vice President of Legislative Affairs Lisa Gilbert, contracted wheelchair attendant at Dulles airport Esther Nchom, National Domestic Workers Alliance Organizer Antonia Peña, and a very special guest from Comedy Central’s “The President Show” will deliver remarks at the April 15 Tax March in Washington, D.C. At a rally outside the U.S. Capitol, speakers will address Trump’s repeated refusal to disclose his tax returns and the critical need to build a fairer, more equitable tax system.

“By refusing to release his returns, the president has betrayed the trust of the American people and deeply damaged a bipartisan tradition of disclosure and openness in government that has existed ever since Watergate,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. “Tax returns are the lowest ethical bar a president can meet. The American people are entitled to know the truth about their Commander-in-Chief. The president must finally come clean about his tax returns and fully disclose his decades of business dealings.”

“Donald Trump is one of the least transparent presidents ever. He has made a mockery of our country’s long tradition of an ethical and open government,” said Rep. Maxine Waters. “I am proud to join Americans across this country in holding Trump accountable for deceiving the American people and refusing to tell the truth about his financial entanglements and conflicts of interest. He should have to face the consequences of trying to hide from the American public.”

“President Trump is the prince of tax avoidance, the king of corporate welfare and the world champion of foreign emoluments,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin. “He is the first president in four decades to hide his tax returns from the public and he still refuses to come clean even after promising to make his returns available. At the April 15 Tax Marches, honest taxpaying Americans across the country will demand the president release his tax returns and pursue a tax policy that puts middle-class families – not Cabinet billionaires and Trump-Kushner family members – first. It is indigestible to most Americans that we are all still in the dark about President Trump’s foreign financial entanglements and global conflicts of interest simply because he continues to stonewall disclosure of his tax returns.”  Congressman Raskin continued: “America was conceived in a tax protest when the King chose to have one set of policies for his insider friends at the East India Corporation and another for the colonists. This president’s bizarre refusal to make his tax returns available underscores that he thinks he is above the law and can create a government of, by, and for the rich.  But President Trump is about to find out on Tax Day that we have no kings here and the people demand the truth.”

“Our tax system is broken and profoundly rigged in favor of the ultra rich. Instead of generating the revenue essential for investing in our people and our planet, the tax code provides massive tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthiest among us,” said Heather McGhee, president of Demos. “Now, Donald Trump and his billionaire Cabinet are proposing even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy when what we need is a fairer system that allows our nation to meet the needs of its people. On April 15, I am proud to stand with Americans across this country to fight back against President Trump’s unjust agenda and defend our country’s democratic principles of transparency, accountability, and fairness.”

With the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress pushing new tax cuts for major corporations and CEOs, speakers will demand that any change to the tax system ensure the wealthiest pay their fair share.

Sen. Wyden, Rep. Waters, and Rep. Raskin have been leaders in calling on Trump to embrace transparency and immediately disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the American people. Sen. Wyden has introduced legislation requiring all major party presidential nominees and sitting presidents to release their most recent tax returns. Rep. Waters has repeatedly called on federal agencies to root out any conflicts of interest regarding the Trump Organization.

Following the rally outside the U.S. Capitol, the Tax March will march past the Trump International Hotel, the FBI Building, and the IRS Building. In addition to the event taking place in the nation’s capital, tens of thousands of Americans will gather in more than 100 other cities across the country to demand that Trump immediately release his full returns and come clean with American people about his business dealings, financial entanglements, and countless conflicts of interest.

A diverse coalition of 46 grassroots organizations, labor unions, and economic justice advocacy groups  — including MoveOn.org, Stand Up America, The Working Families Party, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Tax Fairness, Center for Popular Democracy, CREDO, Indivisible, Our Revolution, 32BJ SEIU, Action Group Network, Change.org, Demos, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Women’s Law Center, Public Citizen, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and Rise Stronger — are supporting the Tax March. More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

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