Thomas M. Barrett: “the hour is late. There has been much fanfare this week in Washington over the Burton committee, and the actions that…”

“the hour is late. There has been much fanfare this week in Washington over the Burton committee, and the actions that were taken by the chairman of that committee. I just want to reflect on those actions and reflect on that committee which I have served on for the last 5 rac{1}{2} years. My first two years, I served under the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), who is here with us tonight and who has spoken about this issue earlier. For two years Mr. Clinger headed the committee and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) has headed this committee for the last year and a half. Earlier this week and late last week there was much criticism of the 19 Democrats on that committee who had voted against immunity. I was one of those Democrats and I am 100 percent comfortable with my vote. There are many times when it is difficult when legislators have to think about whether they are doing the right thing or the wrong thing, and believe it or not, legislators sometimes actually think about this and they are concerned about whether they are doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I am very confident that what we did on that committee was the right thing to do.”