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August 3, 1994 - Part 2
(11:45:12) Senator KERRY. I have a couple of questions that are tied into that line of questioning. I hope you understand. Secretary BENTSEN. I know what you are reaching for. Senator KERRY. I am just trying to understand how the lawyer for the Department would take. Clearly a reference in a criminal referral in any capacity is an unusual occurrence. Is that not fair to say? Secretary BENTSEN. Yes, I would certainly think so. Senator KERRY. Would you not want to be informed if your Department is being notified to this effect? In fact, the evidence says that according to Mr. Roelle, that she was instructed to call, among other people, you or your office to inform you. Secretary BENTSEN. I had worked very hard to build a wall around myself insofar as any case specific matter in the Resolution Trust, I did that because I did not want, in any way, to have violated the law. And that worked. Senator KERRY. I am not suggesting that you had any role in this. I know you did not. There is nothing that suggests you did. I understand that. All I am trying to say is, Mr. Secretary, the notion that if I am lawyer to somebody and information comes to me of the import of this kind of information, the notion that I would take it upon myself to just jump over to the White House, talk to the Counsel of the President of the United States and say to him, hey, by the way, is very hard for me to accept. Secretary BENTSEN. Let me tell you, Senator, you are more awe inspired than I am by those folks over there. Senator KERRY. I beg your pardon? I could not hear Secretary BENTSEN. You are more awe inspired than I am by those folks over there. Those folks are over there daily. Senator KERRY. That may well be. We do not get down there as often as you do. Secretary BENTSEN. Those folks were over there daily. Senator KERRY. This is what I want to understand. I am not arguing with you about it. You are saying to me that Ms. Hanson might have gone over there absolutely on her own on a daily basis with this kind of information? Secretary BENTSEN. Well she was over there often. No, not daily on that kind of information, but they were over there very often, and developed a working relationship there. Senator KERRY. But she was over there at the time on Waco, correct? Secretary BENTSEN. That is what I found out this morning. 36 Senator KERRY. Clearly, we know she was over there. Would she impart that kind of information without having first told you or Mr. Altman? Secretary BENTSEN. She certainly would without telling-would have done it, and could have done it without telling me, certainly, because once again, I was very much opposed to anything that got me in case specific matters in the Resolution Trust because the Congress has made it clear that I was not supposed to be in the oversight. Senator KERRY. Absolutely, I agree with that. And then the question would be whether or not, in your judgment, it would have been appropriate for her to go to the White House without having first checked with Mr. Altman? Secretary BENTSEN. I do not think she is precluded from that. Senator KERRY. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Bennett, OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR BENNETT Senator BENNETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome, Mr. Secretary. Secretary BENTSEN. Thank you, Senator. Senator BENNETT. I will just make a quick comment. I may be the only Member of this Committee who has served in an Administration, and yes, we were at the White House on a regular basis and yes, at my level, and it was functioning at an Assistant Secretary level. I would clearly not have talked to the Counsel of the President without the Under Secretary, as he was then designated, telling me it was OK. I would have talked to my normal contacts, but the Counsel of the President to an Assistant Secretary, which is the level at which she operates, is kind of a forbidding figure and she testified, very specifically, I do not know Bernie Nussbaum, and I would not presume to call Bernie Nussbaum unless somebody told me. So that has been her testimony, and I happen to resonate with that. Now Mr. Secretary, in your testimony, you asked us for recommendations that we might think appropriate, and I have one for you. I would suggest that you send the name of Jack Ryan to this Committee for confirmation immediately. We have had testimony here that he will now preside over the RTC until its dissolution.
Hawaiian Leis
Lei Vendors in the morning ***
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High Tide **+
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Jagged Rocks of Lanpahoehoe **
Surfboarding
N.G. Surfboarding
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Surfing riders carry boards from shore on preview cassette 93142
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Kids surfboarding ***
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Wipeout!
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Waikiki surfboarding. Surfer guy attempts a stunt, pulls off sort of a handstand while surfing.
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Surfboading Sequence on preview cassette 93142
Surfboarding
Surfboarding in Makaha *** on preview cassette 93142
Surfboarding
Sailing on an Outrigger Plus Waikiki Surfboarding on preview cassette 93142
Surfboarding
Makaha Surfing ***
August 3, 1994 - Part 2
(11:50:40) If that is the case, even if its dissolution is only three months away, let's get him confirmed by the Senate, and then in the process get him the instructions to guarantee that there will be separation between the RTC and the Treasury. Because we have had testimony here Secretary BENTSEN, Senator, I think that is a good idea. And let me see if I can get that done. You know I have tried for a long time to get somebody in that job and was not able to do it. Senator BENNETT. Well you have somebody in that job. Send him up, and then if you talk Mr. Simons or whoever into taking it later 37 on, he can always resign, but let's get somebody who is doing the job confirmed and let's do it as quickly as we can. Now Mr. Secretary, I have not had an opportunity to review the report of the Office of Government Ethics until this morning. And I must say to you, I appreciate the way you deal with this in your testimony because you say, right up front, that the report was troubled by some of the contacts, and then you lay out those areas of trouble. One of the things we have constantly heard from Mr. Altman was "the OGE cleared it." Well the OGE says there is nothing wrong. No, the OGE says I am OK We got that flavor again and again. And now that I have the report and can read it, I realize that there are a number of areas that the OGE says need work. And I am struck by the statements on their cover letter. They say to you, the Office of Government Ethics is not an investigative agency, And then it goes on and says, it is of course your responsibility to make any necessary determinations. This is a report to you of what they found, but it is laced with statements like, you could conclude, you should examine, you do this, you do that, and so on. And the fact that you have highlighted, in your testimony, that the OGE says there is a possible lack of appreciation of the difference between a Treasury function and the one belonging to the RTC, and what rules apply, there is a misconception about the standard on the use of public information, a misconception on the function of recusal. I am quoting, not from the report, but from your testimony Secretary BENTSEN. That is correct. Senator BENNETT [continuing]. To emphasize how grateful I am to you that you are willing to be up front about the fact that there needs to be some things done. Just as an editorial comment, I had had this before. Let me get the right page here so I quote it exactly. I am just kind of amused by the OGE's comment. While we would never find fault with an individual sensitivity to conflict or appearances of conflicts, Mr. Altman's actions in this regard are somewhat confusing. I find that a bit of an understatement, but I am delighted to have that. So might I suggest to you that your guiding star should be to go through this report, make as strong a series of changes as you possibly can, but as I say, your guiding star should be the separation between the RTC and the Treasury Department, because we have had testimony here under oath saying that the RTC has been politicized more heavily under these circumstances in this Administration than at any other time. Now you may disagree with that characterization, and I'm sure that that is Secretary BENTSEN. I do. I do. Senator BENNETT [continuing]. That is possible, but at least it exists. It has been testified to by Mr. Katsanos. Mr. Roelle's testimony to me, seemed to corroborate that, The perception is strongly there. 38 And if you want recommendations from this Committee, my recommendation would be, do whatever you can to see that that perception is erased. Secretary BENTSEN. I appreciate that, Let me say to you, Senator, I have spent approximately 30 years in public service, and my reputation is something I treasure. The first meeting I had of the top officials in Treasury was on ethics. And that was, as I recall, I think it was the day after I was sworn in. And I called them together, and I had the top career ethics attorney present to us what could and what could not be done, and what our responsibilities were on ethics.
Surf
One fairly good splash