Trent Lott: “That is going to relate to what I am fixing to say. You talk about the cost. That is a very small amount of money in…”

“That is going to relate to what I am fixing to say. You talk about the cost. That is a very small amount of money in doing its job, especially when you compare it to what these other committees spent. For instance, the select committees on Iran-Contra spent well over $3 million, and in 1996 dollars, it would probably be $4.5 million on that investigation, according to the Congressional Research Service. The October surprise investigation cost up to $2.5 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Chairman Hyde in the House, who served on the investigating committee, said the total cost, including salaries and expenses, amounted to probably as much as $4.56 million. It may have been for a shorter period of time, but the actual costs were greater. According to the Congressional Research Service, the total cost of Whitewater, including the independent counsel, at this point has been $12,525,000. Compare this $12.5 million to the $40 million in direct costs spent on Iran-Contra. Some estimates place the total cost of Iran-Contra as high as $100 million. Even the Watergate investigation, in which I participated, is estimated to have cost $26 million. I understand you have the cost of the independent counsels and the entire cost of some of these other investigations, and in this case you have the independent counsel going forward, but the committee itself has been very reasonable in what it has spent. What they have asked in additional funds is only $600,000.”