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what it meant.

By that time, [John O.] Pastore had banged the gavel and called my name. I had to go forward, so I went forward, read my prepared statement, didn't get very far before I got into an exchange with the committee, which, frankly, I preferred, because the give and take is where you make your points, not in the prepared statement. Anybody can sit there and read a prepared statement; it's handling the questions that either helps you or hurts you.

So, I was going along all right, and I brought up the question of -- I don't recall precisely, but my recollection is the question had to do with, “Well, if we didn't get free time, how would we get any time?” I said, “Well, we'll make time available,” but not for them to just to what they wanted to do with it. “We'd like to have discussion programs, etc. The best thing to do would be to have debates.”

Now, Pastore knew I had this one-note idea, and he sort of chuckled and said, “Yeah.” I guess what he said was, “This will require an Act of Congress, and there isn't time.” Now, this is like -- Oh, I don't know whether this was August, or whether it was June or July, but it was right up against the campaign and the conventions. He made the point that there wasn't time to do it, to which I said, “You can always have a temporary resolution.” And all of a sudden Pastore said, “It's a good idea, let's talk about it -- later.” I finished my statement, and immediately after the thing his staff people came up and said what did I have in mind? I said, “Well, I guess, relief, for one campaign, just to see how it works.”

[Warren G.] Magnuson, the chairman of the full committee, and Pastore, took me to lunch