STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

On 2026-07-30, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) delivered a floor speech titled "STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS" in the Senate.

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S4371-S4390] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS ______ By Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. Kim, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Padilla): S. 5183. A bill to establish the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, today, on anti-corruption and the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act--today, I am introducing the Anti- Corruption Bureau Creation Act, the biggest, boldest, and broadest proposal ever put forward to revitalize our anti-corruption institutions. The scope and scale of Donald Trump's corruption dwarf anything we have ever seen in American history, which is why Congress has to respond more strongly than ever before. In just 18 months, the Trump family has cashed in on the influence of the Presidency to the tune of more than $4 billion--billion. The same corrupt practices that Trump is using to rake in billions are also causing Americans to pay an extra $3,100 in higher costs each year. Trump profits; Americans pay. Our ``Grifter in [[Page S4372]] Chief'' has tried every scam in the book and invented new ones we never imagined. The bill I am introducing today with my colleagues Senators Padilla, Merkley, and Kim is designed to stop Trump's ``Art of the Steal.'' The first goal of our bill is to get the American people their money back. The bill will create, for the first time, a private right of action that allows Americans, including State attorneys general representing the public, to sue to recover the money Trump and his family have taken from them. Now, the False Claims Act already allows citizens to file lawsuits against people who defraud the government and share part of the civil penalty if they win. So it only makes sense that we are expanding that ability so citizens can sue people who use government influence to defraud the public. If Donald Trump or one of his lackeys, sons, cronies uses government influence to steal from you, you deserve your day in court. The second goal of our bill is to stop this corruption from happening again. Instead of draining the swamp, Trump blew our anti-corruption institutions to smithereens. He installed MAGA loyalists at the Office of Government Ethics and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, watchdogs whose whole mission is to stop the same type of corruption Trump is now committing. Trump also neutered the Federal Elections Commission, which Congress created to stop the corruption Watergate exposed. My bill would establish a new, independent Anti-Corruption Bureau that brings all the guardrails Trump has weakened under one roof. The Anti-Corruption Bureau is a sum greater than its parts. The Bureau would have subpoena power to give it real investigative strength, meaningful enforcement authority, and the ability to disgorge ill- gotten gains. We want to create a one-stop shop to catch the corruption and make them pay up, an Agency with real teeth and real independence. It will be led by seven Senate-confirmed Commissioners--three Republicans, three Democrats, and one Independent. Trump won't be able to commandeer the Bureau because our bill explicitly outlaws trying to weaponize it, with fines and jail time for people who try. Congress can't defund the Bureau because our bill establishes a self- sustaining funding source for the Agency, much like the Fed. And the President can't dismantle the Bureau by purging its members, since our bill requires a panel of judges to appoint temporary replacements so the Bureau always has a quorum. The bill is just common sense--a basic, straightforward way to make sure all facets of government serve the people and no one else. Americans are demanding we go back to a government they can actually trust. This legislation tells them that we hear them and that we are going to fight for them with the strongest measures we have ever proposed. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 5183 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act'' . SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Findings and purpose. Sec. 4. Definitions. TITLE I--PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION TO UNWIND CORRUPTION Sec. 101. Findings and purpose. Sec. 102. Definitions. Sec. 103. Civil liability for corruption-related violations. Sec. 104. Private right of action. Sec. 105. Award to plaintiffs. Sec. 106. Severability. TITLE II--ESTABLISHMENT OF ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU Sec. 201. Establishment of Bureau. Sec. 202. Membership. Sec. 203. Terms of service. Sec. 204. Chair; Vice Chair. Sec. 205. Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel. Sec. 206. Removal; notice to Congress. TITLE III--POWERS AND DUTIES OF ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU Sec. 301. Powers and duties of the Bureau. Sec. 302. Transfer of functions. Sec. 303. Personnel. TITLE IV--APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY MEMBERS TO THE ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU Sec. 401. Assignment of judges to division to appoint temporary members to the Anti-Corruption Bureau. TITLE V--GENERAL MATTERS Sec. 501. Freedom From Influence Fund. Sec. 502. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 503. References. Sec. 504. Regulations. Sec. 505. Technical and conforming amendments. SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following: (1) A Federal Government free from corruption is essential to maintaining public trust. (2) Political corruption is fundamentally at odds with the commitment to democratic self-government outlined in the Constitution of the United States. The purpose of the Constitution is to create a Government in which all powers derive, in the words of James Madison, ``from the great body of the people.'' The Federalist No. 39 (James Madison). Corruption frustrates this purpose by privileging the monetary interests of a private elite over the democratically expressed will of the people. (3) The Framers of the Constitution of the United States recognized that corruption poses an existential threat to self-government. George Mason, an influential participant in the Constitutional Convention, told his fellow delegates that, ``if we do not provide against corruption, our government will soon be at an end.'' Notes of Robert Yates (June 23, 1787), in 1 The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, at 391, 392 (Max Farrand ed., rev. ed. 1966) (1937). Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist No. 68, explained that, in the writing of the Constitution, ``nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption.'' (4) To protect the democracy principle of the Constitution of the United States from this threat, the founding charter of the United States is rife with anti-corruption measures. In the article ``The Anti-Corruption Principle'', Professor Zephyr Teachout identifies 23 distinct constitutional provisions aimed at preventing corruption. 94 Cornell L. Rev. 341, 354 (2009). Most prominently, the Constitution of the United States forbids, pursuant to clause 8 of section 9 of article I, Federal officials, including the President, from receiving gifts ``of any kind'' from a foreign power without congressional consent and provides, pursuant to section 4 of article II, that the President should be removed from office in cases of ``bribery''. (5) In defiance of these provisions, the Trump administration has been marked by widespread corruption, disregard for basic ethical standards, and repeated efforts to weaken or take control of independent watchdog agencies to protect the President, the allies of the President, and the financial interests of the President from accountability. (6) President Trump and the family and close supporters of President Trump have leveraged the Government for personal profit at the expense of the people of the United States. (7) When public officials use governmental power to enrich themselves, their families, and major donors--through self- dealing, conflicts of interest, and preferential treatment-- those public officials violate their oath to the Constitution of the United States, defy the democratically expressed will of the people, distort markets, increase costs and financial risks for families in the United States, undermine fair competition for honest businesses, and erode public confidence in democratic institutions. (8) Systemic corruption and pay-to-play practices in the executive branch function as a hidden tax on families in the United States by driving up the prices those families pay for essentials while channeling public resources and policy favors toward special interests rather than the broader public interest. (9) The Constitution of the United States empowers Congress, as the branch of Government with the most direct relationship to the people, to enact laws providing for strong anti-corruption enforcement and truly independent investigative mechanisms, as these measures are essential to defending democracy and protecting the economic well-being of families in the United States. (10) After the Watergate scandal, Congress exercised these powers to create a system of independent watchdog agencies, including the Federal Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Office of Special Counsel, to prevent abuses of power, oversee money in politics, and restore trust in Federal institutions. Today, these agencies are failing to fulfill the missions of those agencies because the agencies have been systematically weakened, particularly durin

Referenced legislation: S5183, S5183, S5194, S5204