THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9407300449
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
After only two days, the House Banking Committee hearings into the Whitewater scandal have already produced some memorable moments.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., for instance, extended the bounds of parliamentary courtesy when she told Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., to ``shut up.'' Earlier, Rep. Waters had bored in with such tough questions as, ``Young man, did you work hard to get where you are?'' To former Chief of Staff Thomas ``Mack'' McLarty, she observed, ``I even understand you attend church regularly.'' On Friday morning, Rep. Waters ran well over her allotted time in a speech on the House floor in which she to defend her conduct on Thursday and was very nearly forcibly removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms.
Then there was the sight of 10 White House aides lined up at a hearing table, cattle-call fashion. Rep. Stephen Neal, D-N.C., asked if any of them had ever interfered in the Whitewater investigation. ``No,'' they all answered in unison. Rep. Neal was apparently satisfied that he had gotten the truth.
And through it all, there was Chairman Henry Gonzalez, D-Texas, the man who in 1992 complained that no one was paying attention to his investigation of President Bush's alleged arming of Iraq. This time, Gonzalez rapped his wooden gavel at the slightest sign of the truth slipping out. ``The gentleman's time has expired'' and ``out of order'' were the phrases he uttered most frequently. On the latter point, he can't be faulted, for the hearings are certainly out of order by any conventional measure.
In addition to narrowing the scope of the hearings to the point of meaninglessness, Rep. Gonzalez set rules that deliberately discouraged in-depth questioning. The committee's 51 members were allowed five minutes each to interrogate the panel of 10 White House aides. Republicans pursuing complicated lines of questioning often found themselves cut off by Gonzalez's swinging gavel. After one such abrupt termination, Rep. Neal complimented Gonzalez on his ``fairness.''
The American people, of course, will be the ultimate judges of the hearings' fairness. Even in such highly charged investigations as Watergate and Iran-Contra, Republican legislators sought to play a constructive role. The obstructionist efforts of the House Democratic majority might become an unintended advertisement for term limits. by CNB