August 3, 1994 - Part 2
August 3, 1994 - Part 2
(11:50:40) If that is the case, even if its dissolution is only three months away, let's get him confirmed by the Senate, and then in the process get him the instructions to guarantee that there will be separation between the RTC and the Treasury. Because we have had testimony here Secretary BENTSEN, Senator, I think that is a good idea. And let me see if I can get that done. You know I have tried for a long time to get somebody in that job and was not able to do it. Senator BENNETT. Well you have somebody in that job. Send him up, and then if you talk Mr. Simons or whoever into taking it later 37 on, he can always resign, but let's get somebody who is doing the job confirmed and let's do it as quickly as we can. Now Mr. Secretary, I have not had an opportunity to review the report of the Office of Government Ethics until this morning. And I must say to you, I appreciate the way you deal with this in your testimony because you say, right up front, that the report was troubled by some of the contacts, and then you lay out those areas of trouble. One of the things we have constantly heard from Mr. Altman was "the OGE cleared it." Well the OGE says there is nothing wrong. No, the OGE says I am OK We got that flavor again and again. And now that I have the report and can read it, I realize that there are a number of areas that the OGE says need work. And I am struck by the statements on their cover letter. They say to you, the Office of Government Ethics is not an investigative agency, And then it goes on and says, it is of course your responsibility to make any necessary determinations. This is a report to you of what they found, but it is laced with statements like, you could conclude, you should examine, you do this, you do that, and so on. And the fact that you have highlighted, in your testimony, that the OGE says there is a possible lack of appreciation of the difference between a Treasury function and the one belonging to the RTC, and what rules apply, there is a misconception about the standard on the use of public information, a misconception on the function of recusal. I am quoting, not from the report, but from your testimony Secretary BENTSEN. That is correct. Senator BENNETT [continuing]. To emphasize how grateful I am to you that you are willing to be up front about the fact that there needs to be some things done. Just as an editorial comment, I had had this before. Let me get the right page here so I quote it exactly. I am just kind of amused by the OGE's comment. While we would never find fault with an individual sensitivity to conflict or appearances of conflicts, Mr. Altman's actions in this regard are somewhat confusing. I find that a bit of an understatement, but I am delighted to have that. So might I suggest to you that your guiding star should be to go through this report, make as strong a series of changes as you possibly can, but as I say, your guiding star should be the separation between the RTC and the Treasury Department, because we have had testimony here under oath saying that the RTC has been politicized more heavily under these circumstances in this Administration than at any other time. Now you may disagree with that characterization, and I'm sure that that is Secretary BENTSEN. I do. I do. Senator BENNETT [continuing]. That is possible, but at least it exists. It has been testified to by Mr. Katsanos. Mr. Roelle's testimony to me, seemed to corroborate that, The perception is strongly there. 38 And if you want recommendations from this Committee, my recommendation would be, do whatever you can to see that that perception is erased. Secretary BENTSEN. I appreciate that, Let me say to you, Senator, I have spent approximately 30 years in public service, and my reputation is something I treasure. The first meeting I had of the top officials in Treasury was on ethics. And that was, as I recall, I think it was the day after I was sworn in. And I called them together, and I had the top career ethics attorney present to us what could and what could not be done, and what our responsibilities were on ethics.