July 18, 1995 - Part 1
July 18, 1995 - Part 1
(10:50:28) Finally, what they do submit is censored and, the word of the day, redacted. Take, for example, Vince Foster's phone logs. The Committee asked for 2 weeks of phone logs, What we got was four pages of censored material with a total of seven phone calls in 2 weeks. If this is cooperation, I call it obstruction. I would like to just show you the phone calls, in 2 weeks the phone calls the White House says Vince Foster made. This is 2 weeks, seven calls they'll give us. [Pause.] Mr. Chairman, if that's cooperation, I would like to see if they failed to cooperate what they might do. I thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator. Senator Sarbanes. Senator SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, I do think we ought to, in response to the question Senator Faircloth put to you, indicate to him", that you and I joined together in sending a letter to the Special Counsel requesting information and the results of the polygraph.. test to which he made reference. That was a test not administered as we understand it, by the White House. It was administered by the Special Counsel, and we jointly sent a letter requesting that material. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Did you say you had requested? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. We have requested of the Special Counsel the results and the questions of the polygraph test. So we have requested that. Senator FAIRCLOTH. But we haven't gotten them'. 21 The CHAIRMAN. No, we have not. Senator SARBANES. There were press reports that she had voluntarily taken this test and passed it with the Special Counsel and, therefore, Senator D'Amato and 1, in light of that, sent a letter to the Special Counsel requesting the results of that. Senator FAIRCLOTH. You did request it, but we have not received it. The CHAIRMAN. We have not received it, and we will take the liberty of saying Senator FAIRCLOTH. How many tests, Mr. Chairman, how many tests did she take? The CHAIRMAN. We don't know. It appears there were two tests, but we have not confirmed that. We don't know exactly if the Special Counsel administered both, but we have requested them, and we will renew that request. Senator FAIRCLOTH, Thank you. Senator SARBANES. Good. Senator KERRY, The record also better reflect the Senator's opening suggested it was an alleged test or an alleged passing, and I think the record is also clear as to the fact of the test, is it not? The CHAIRMAN. We really want to ascertain, I believe-I think we've been given to believe there was one test administered by the Special Counsel. We are attempting to pursue that, ascertain exactly how many and if they will give us the results or the questions and answer that question. That is still an open question. Senator SARBANES. Senator Bryan. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD H. BRYAN Senator BRYAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me say at the outset I had urged unsuccessfully that Members not make opening statements so we could dispense with the rhetoric and hear directly from the witnesses, so my comments will be very brief I'm committed to joining with my colleagues in a thorough investigation of the events surrounding the tragic suicide of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster and subsequent Whitewater related issues that will come before this Committee. Last year, this Committee conducted itself in a responsible, bipartisan manner that reflected well on the Senate. Given the highly political nature of the subject material, it is extremely difficult to keep this from turning into a partisan squabble. I, for one, am committed to an impartial investigation of the facts in public view. Public hearings are an integral part of the workings of Congress, and I fully support these public proceedings.