Arlen Specter: “this is a very sad day for many reasons. I think we are losing an outstanding Senator at a time when the Senate and the…”

“this is a very sad day for many reasons. I think we are losing an outstanding Senator at a time when the Senate and the country needs his expertise very badly. I join my many colleagues and express my sentiment about the friendship which I have enjoyed with Senator Packwood. I think that the Senate, the country, Senator Packwood, and the people who have registered complaints about him would have been better served had there been public hearings. This is a view that I have always held and expressed with my vote in favor of those public hearings. I understand the business of the Senate. But I believe that we could have found the time here with many of the quorum calls, or perhaps on weekends, or perhaps evenings, to have heard this matter. I believe that America was entitled to full disclosure. I believe the people who came forward with complaints were entitled to be heard, and I think Senator Packwood was entitled to have a defense. I think that I, as a 'juror,' a Senator, who had to pass on the issues, would have been prepared and better off had that been done. I have always been opposed to plea bargains of any sort. I understand the kind of pain that would have been involved had we gone through those hearings. But I think it would have served the institution well and all of the parties well. I have had one other very painful experience with Senator Packwood when I got six stitches under my left eye a decade ago. But I consider this day much more painful.”