August 3, 1994 - Part 1
August 3, 1994 - Part 1
(09:45:34) Senator KERRY. Mr. Chairman, I apologize to the witness. I am a little hard of hearing and The CHAIRMAN. I think if you could just pull that mike a little closer, and you might want to put the papers up on the front of that wooden stand, then I think it will move toward you, and then everyone can hear you clearly. Secretary BENTSEN. You want me to start over? The CHAIRMAN. No, that is all right. 5 Secretary BENTSEN. And finally I want to cover the conclusions which have been reached and the actions I will take, Senator can you hear me? Senator KERRY. Yes, sir. Secretary BENTSEN. OK. Knowing that the responsibilities of a Cabinet Office are different from those of a congressional office, I put two systems in place when I came to Treasury to help me make the transition. First, as it regards the RTC, I serve as Chairman of the Oversight Board. By law, I am prohibited from involving myself in any day-to-day activities, I can discuss policy in broad terms, but I cannot intervene in a case-specific matter. I asked my Legislative Director, Mike Levy, to make it clear if Members of Congress or staff inquired about specific cases, that they should be directed to the RTC and not to me. Second, I have organized my office such that all paper work on matters of policy and Treasury's varied operations flow through my Executive Secretary, Mr. Ed Knight. Ed is the gatekeeper. It is his job to make certain that what crosses my desk, as it regards the RTC, or any issue, for that matter, contains only those materials I should be seeing, and nothing else. We have a thick manual about how information flows to my office. I insist on written briefings. It makes the best use of my time. It is the best way I found to absorb information. When I am asked for a decision, I expect a memo that gives me the background, lays out the options, tells me what the staff recommends. That way, I can either make the decision, or let my staff know I want more information, or I want a meeting on the issue. That is how I deal with substantive issues, not in some bull session. I prefer the distilled thoughts that they finally come up with as they prepare a memorandum to me, and I want it a relatively short one. In short, I have a very organized office procedure. I have run my office like that for years. I did it in business, I did it in the Senate, and I do it now as Secretary of the Treasury. When I was building a business, a good part of my time was spent on an airplane going about the country, and I would have my associates prepare the memorandums for me so I could study them on the plane, or if I had some spare time, I would do that. Let me give you an example. When I was in business, I can recall I had a decorator in to decorate my office. And he said he was going to put an ottoman in my office, and I said, do not you put an ottoman in here, I do not have time for people to put up their feet. They are not coming here to visit. We are trying to do business. And that is the way it has been. Mr. Chairman, if someone wanted to communicate with me in a meaningful way, that is how they would have done it, through my in box with a memo, with a meeting on which I was briefed in writing, That is not to say I do not have occasional impromptu visits from or conversations with my staff, because I do. That often happens if there is a developing crisis that has to be dealt with. But for matters of any import, I prefer paper. 6 I asked my staff to go back and look at my office records to see what I was involved in over the period in which the Committee is interested. I have a memorandum I want to put into the record. My staff says that from September 23, 1993, until March 21, 1994, 1 had nearly 800 meetings on 560 topics. I attended 130 meetings at the White House. Met with 51 Members of Congress. Testified on the Hill 11 times. I received more than 500 written briefings prepared for my meetings. I delivered 60 speeches, gave 80 interviews, had 25 press conferences, and I want you to get this. I received over 2,400 memos and during that period, I traveled to 6 countries and 10 States.