John Sarbanes: “We do not have that figure. The figures we are giving are public expenditures of money to do the inquiries. The costs…”

“We do not have that figure. The figures we are giving are public expenditures of money to do the inquiries. The costs that are imposed on the people that come forward as witnesses we have no accounting for, although we do understand that for many of these people those costs are very substantial and they are in no position to bear the cost. I want to distinguish between two groups of witnesses. There are some who come before the committee, and I agree completely, they ought to be there. There are questions that need to be asked if we are going to do our inquiry. One of the consequences of such inquiry is that people bear costs, and at some point I think we need to give consideration to that as a Congress. There are other people that are being called before our committee and they get there, and they essentially sit there through the hearing. They really have not much to contribute. Maybe they get asked a few questions, and then they, too, incur expense. Some of these are very young people, and others hold low-level positions-- clerks, secretaries. It is very clear that this is a terrifying and traumatizing experience for them, personally traumatizing.”