Chris Dodd: “It is a very difficult committee and I respect immensely my colleagues' efforts there. I note in my friend's letter…”

“It is a very difficult committee and I respect immensely my colleagues' efforts there. I note in my friend's letter which he has provided and read in detail to us, there was a reference--and to be quite candid, I think I am the Senator the Senator is referencing here because I am the Senator who raised the question during the Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing of Mr. Bolton. Here my colleague says, and I am quoting now from page 4, the last paragraph of the Senator's letter to Senator Lugar, and I am getting down near the end of it, maybe the last sentence of that paragraph: It is for this reason that I was a bit surprised and dismayed when a member of your committee--speaking of this Senator-- broached this issue in the course of your public confirmation hearings. Normally intelligence sources and methods are discussed only in closed session. I will ask unanimous consent that the transcript of the question I raised to Mr. Bolton at that particular time be printed in the Record. The question was basically a very simple one. The question was: I want to know whether you requested to see NSA information about other American officials? That is the question. There was no reference to sources and methods. A simple question: Did you request to see this information, yes or no? And he went on to answer the question. Now, I ask the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, is that an inappropriate question to ask of a nominee?…”