On the recordJuly 15, 2010
let me again say to my great friend, we have served here a long time together, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan and I. He does a remarkable job as chairman of the Armed Services Committee and the Governmental Oversight Committee, which he also handles as well. I am not sure my colleague was here, but I pointed out yesterday that the hearings the Senator held just prior--I am sure people think we orchestrate all these things; we look more organized than we usually are around here, but the fact is, the Senator from Michigan went off and had planned the hearings for months. The amount of work he and his staff did for months in preparation for those hearings threw a tremendous amount of light and great clarity on the subject so that the average citizen in this country could actually see--not just read something but see--a moment occurring during those 2 days when the exposure of what had occurred was so vivid and so clear. Then, frankly, it was a matter of days after that when we were on the floor considering the legislation. As I said, I would love to tell people that was a highly organized set of events. It was purely coincidental the way it occurred. Again, those hearings that occurred publicly involved weeks and months of preparation before they were actually conducted.
