E. Clay Shaw, Jr.: “I think this is a tremendously important amendment. Let us really look at the record of the special prosecutors and how…”

“I think this is a tremendously important amendment. Let us really look at the record of the special prosecutors and how they have evolved over the years. It is a very tough standard that we must put on any administration that a special prosecutor with all these powers can be appointed, and this person is appointed to investigate a specific person, and this person is semi-independent from the Department of Justice. I think that what we have to do is say that if we are going to put this as a standard on the administration, then we certainly should apply it ourselves. It can be said that here we go again, exempting ourselves from these laws, and that is exactly what we are doing. By boiling this thing down and saying it is permissive, it just simply yanks the heart out of the whole thing. This is a high standard that we place upon the administration. We should place this same standard upon ourselves and this body. I do not view this as a partisan move at all.”