CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement regarding the confirmation process for Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson.
“As is long-standing precedent for nominees considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee has not asked Mr. Tillerson to provide copies of his tax returns,” said Corker. “By all accounts, Mr. Tillerson is currently ahead of schedule in providing information to the committee. He already has submitted a completed nominee questionnaire and will soon submit an extensive financial disclosure. Furthermore, prior to his confirmation hearing, he will go through the same ethics and FBI checks as previous Secretary of State nominees. That has always been the plan, it is already in progress, and I am deeply disappointed my colleagues continue to imply otherwise. Our committee will carry out exactly the same procedures for Mr. Tillerson’s nomination that have been carried out since well before I joined the committee 10 years ago.”
Mr. Tillerson submitted a completed nominee questionnaire to the committee three days after President-elect Donald J. Trump announced his intention to nominate him for Secretary of State. Secretary Clinton submitted a completed nominee questionnaire to the committee 17 days after President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate her for the same position. Secretary Clinton provided her financial disclosure to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 5, 2009.
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