Trent Lott: “I commend the Senator from New York [Mr. D'Amato], for taking this action this afternoon and for causing this discussion…”

“I commend the Senator from New York [Mr. D'Amato], for taking this action this afternoon and for causing this discussion that, frankly, is in my opinion overdue; for his diligence in pursuing this matter and for the way the resolution is drafted. This resolution does not say by 6 a.m. on June 7 we must begin. It says, though, that there must be some reasonable expectation that we move forward in this regard. So I have really appreciated the way Senator D'Amato has handled this matter. I have every confidence we are going to go forward with hearings. He is going to do an excellent job as the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee in this effort. I really believe our Founding Fathers thought the Senate was the suitable body of inquiry that should look into whether public people might have violated the public trust. The Senate, fulfilling the founders' vision, and its constitutional duty... should hold hearings on the so-called Whitewater affair. There is no question about it. We must know when we are going to do that. And we must know what happened and where the various documents are. There are so many unanswered questions that we must get into.”