Nararapat na makita ng mga Amerikano ang mga tax return ni Donald Trump. Ang bawat iba pang modernong Pangulo ng Amerika at bawat iba pang pangunahing nominado ng partido ay nagsiwalat ng kanilang mga pagbabalik bago si Donald Trump. Dahil sa maraming pagsisiyasat ng pederal at estado sa pananalapi ng dating pangulo, at mga paniniwala ng maraming empleyado ng Trump Organization, ang mga dokumento ay malamang na naglalaman ng mahalagang impormasyon na may kaugnayan sa tiwala ng publiko at dapat isapubliko.

The House Ways and Means Committee and its Chair Richard Neal deserve credit for formally requesting – and ultimately securing – these returns from the IRS after a sea of red flags arose concerning Trump’s business dealings before and after he was sworn in as president. It took nearly four years and a protracted legal fight to obtain these tax returns, but now that the Committee has obtained them, it has an obligation to make them public.

The nation expects and deserves to know the truth. Going forward, Congress must pass legislation to require that presidential candidates and those elected to the office release their tax returns to the public. Donald Trump proved that you cannot rely on tradition when it come to the tax returns. It needs to be required by law.  The House of Representatives has passed such legislation twice in the past three years and it is long overdue for the Senate to do the same.