Bill Bennett: “I find all of this debate about Iran- Contra very interesting. I was not here for it, and so I enjoy being brought up to…”

“I find all of this debate about Iran- Contra very interesting. I was not here for it, and so I enjoy being brought up to date on past history. It is interesting, but it is irrelevant to the issue before us because the issue before us is: Are there still things yet to find out about Whitewater which need to be found out? This has nothing whatever to do with whether or not the Iran-Contra Committee was able to find out what it needed to find out from Ollie North in the timeframe that it set for itself. This has nothing to do with the timeframe of the Whitewater Committee, which is trying to find out information that has been denied it by a series of circumstances, some of which I believe are deliberate. I make that statement, recognizing that it, perhaps, is emotionally charged for some. I try to stay away from emotionally charged statements on this issue because I realize how easily this can get out of hand. But I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that there has been a deliberate attempt on the part of those who have been called before the committee to withhold information from the committee and to see to it that the committee does not receive that which it needs. I know of no such charges that have been made in past investigations, and, even if they were, frankly, they are irrelevant to this issue. This issue is very simple, again, Mr. President. It is simply this: What is there yet to find? What will it take us to find it?…”