August 4, 1994 - Part 11
August 4, 1994 - Part 11
(21:44:50) Senator BENNETT. But that helps clear that up and I thank you. I just want to make one quick editorial comment. As weird as all of this procedure seems to be, and it's a brand-new experience for me, I find amazingly and incredibly, in my case, it's working. I'm beginning to think I understand what happened. I know that sounds absolutely incredible given what we have been through, but I'm beginning to get a picture. Now it may be a different picture than some of my friends here, and it may be a different picture than you have or that Mr. Altman has or whatever, but somehow in all of the tumbling around and beating around, the mud is coming off the diamond and it's beginning to shine. And I'm beginning to get what I consider to be a fairly clear picture of what happened and think I can sit down when it's all over and if I were on a jury be prepared to vote with some conviction as to what I think the facts are, so brutal as it is may be as a process, 1, for one, am finding it useful. The CHAIRMAN. We will be very interested in hearing what those thoughts are. Senator KERRY. Mr. Chairman, I just want to say to my colleague that he might be interested to note also in the Altman deposition that in that conversation referred to, that you just referred to, Mr. Altman denies that he was asked to do anything with respect to Jay Stephens or that there was any Senator BENNETT. I understand that. Senator BOXER. Would my colleague yield? The CHAIRMAN. The time is up. Senator DAMATO. We'll yield it to you. Senator BOXER. I would like to just call attention to one sentence in Mr. Steiner's testimony before this Committee when he's asked about his comments about Mr. Stephanopoulos saying something to the effect of how can we get rid of Mr. Stephens. He says "as I've said before my intention in keeping this diary was not to give you a precise narrative of the events that occurred. I often use shorthand." I just want to call attention to that at this point in the record. The CHAIRMAN. Who's got time? Senator BENNETT. I can't resist I put an article in the record this morning and I told myself I wouldn't say this but I'm now punchy enough that I've got an excuse later on where Richard Cohen'sRichard Cohen's column says "diary fibbing is now going to take its place alongside not inhaling as a way of ridiculing the Clinton Administration." That may not be fair but that's not the same thing as it's undeserved. Senator KERRY. You're right. Senator BOXER. He's honest about that, it's not fair. Senator D'AMATO. Mr. Chairman, we have some time left. The clock goes on so. 459 Senator MURRAY. Mr. Chairman, can I raise a procedural question one more time now that it's 10 to 10:00? How much more time you expect this panel to be in front of us? The CHAIRMAN, I just asked that question to Senator D'Amato. He thought that there was probably another 30 minutes on his side but he can speak to that directly if he wishes to. Senator D'AMATO. Well, I believe it's about 30 minutes or maybe less. We're drawing to a point where most of the questions have, if not all, of them-I know one of my colleagues has a series of questions to propound. I have a question and an observation. Of course when I make the observation, it will probably be who knows how many minutes of discourse but I think we're down to about a half hour. Senator MURRAY. Mr. Chairman, I'll just make an editorial comment. This is beginning to remind me when I taught preschool and one of my 4-year-olds always had to have the last word. It was tough to end an argument. [Laughter.] Senator DAMATO. Well, I guess you haven't changed, have you? Senator KERRY. Tonight, America is going to get Leno, Letterman and Nussbaum. [Laughter.] The CHAIRMAN. Well, if I may, everybody is tired. It's been a long, punishing week and that's true for the witnesses as well as for the Members and we're nearing the conclusion here. I think Members that have questions are going to be permitted to ask them, we'll get the answers and as soon as we can finish, we'll be done. No one wants to be done any sooner than do 1. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. Chairman, can we just make sure that it's a question that hasn't been asked already or asked already more than once because we've had a lot of that. The CHAIRMAN. Well, let me just say on that point, what often happens, Senators come and go and so a question gets asked by one Senator while another Senator is out of the room, and when they come back, they have not heard that and so they-and that happens on both sides. It's the nature of the problem. I think when questions are being asked repetitively when the same people are in the room, then that's not justified and that certainly is a point that I think you're making. So let's hope we don't have any of that but let's proceed rand see if we can't finish up here.