August 4, 1994 - Part 1
August 4, 1994 - Part 1
(09:15:50) TESTIMONY OF THOMAS F. McLARTY, III, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE PRESIDENT, WASHINGTON, DC Mr. McLARTY. Mr. Chairman, Senator DAmato, and other Members of the Committee, my name is Mack McLarty, and I currently serve as Counselor to the President As you know, it was my privilege to serve as the President's Chief of Staff from the time of his inauguration until June 17th of this year. I testified before the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, and I provided a written statement to that Committee. And, Mr. Chairman, as you have already discussed, I have requested that I be permitted to attach that statement to this one. I would like to simply summarize that testimony here so that we can move promptly to your questions. Let me say at the outset that the White House very much respects the role of this Committee and its oversight responsibilities. As you know, the President instructed all White House personnel to cooperate fully with your inquiry and to appear voluntarily when asked to do so. As you also are aware, a number of independent authorities have reviewed the contacts between the Treasury and the White House concerning the Madison matter. The Special Counsel, the Grand Jury, the Office of Government Ethics and the White House Counsel. And they have all determined that the contacts violated no laws. 271 The Office of Government Ethics and the White House Counsel, Mr. Cutler, examined the contacts in light of ethical standards, which of course are tougher than legal ones. I specifically asked Mr. Cutler to do that and to do so in hindsight. Both he and the Office of Government Ethics concluded that no one acted unethically. Even if I am repeating the obvious, I want to make certain that Congress and the American people understand a very critical point. No one attempted to influence the RTC's decisionmaking. No one attempted to influence the RTC's decision on whether or when to bring claims against individuals in connection with the failure of Madison. As we apply hindsight to these events, however, it is obvious to all of us that some of the contacts were unwise. The White House has already implemented Mr. Cutler's suggestions, and they will assure in the future that all contacts with regulatory agencies about on- going reviews and investigations will be approved by or, even better, limited to White House Counsel. I would like to emphasize, as I did before the House Committee, the importance of keeping the Madison Whitewater matter in perspective with some backdrop. The period the Committee is reviewing extends roughly from the end of September to the beginning of March. And during that period, the White House was extraordinarily busy and very productive, even though some time, of some White House personnel, was spent responding to various Whitewater inquiries and controversies. Specifically, we concluded the North American Free Trade Agreement and lifted the sanctions against South Africa. We reinstituted the Super 301 Trade Powers. We obtained a GATT agreement which, as all of you know on this Committee, had been outstanding for a number of years, and the President convened the APEC conference in Seattle and brought our G-7 allies to Detroit for a major conference on jobs. At the same time, the President was traveling to Europe, bringing his leadership to NATO and outlining his partnership for peace initiative, and holding major talks with President Yeltsin and other Russian leaders. On the heels of last year's economic legislation, which was critical to getting our fiscal household in better order, we set out to improve the social fabric of our country. Working closely with the Members of Congress, we enacted major educational reform, including Goals 2000.