On Mon, Feb 08, 1999 at 09:45:28AM -0500, Bret A. Fausett wrote:
> Kent Crispin wrote:
> >Running the hearing slows down the process, intrinsically. A hearing
> >takes time that would have been spent doing other things. As long as
> >I am guaranteed a "fair hearing" at will, I can slow down the
> >process.
>
> If a hearing catches and corrects a problem before the process moves too
> far down the road, then it has actually *saved* time, as that obstacle
> won't have to be faced later after the policy is more fully developed or
> when it is implemented. No one claims that this doesn't add some time to
> the process. But it does not slow the process down "indefinitely," which
> is all I was trying to address.
I am not talking about there being just *one* hearing. As soon as
the first FH concludes, the second one will be requested, and then
after that the third, and so on. As far as I can see, there is
nothing to stop an infinite regress.
>
> And really were talking about a couple of weeks here. You need to send
> notice to the community at large that you'll be holding a hearing, and
> then set aside a day to hold it. That's it.
For the first one.
> >Put it this way -- what prevents the fair hearing from becoming a
> >fillibuster?
>
> Because there is no procedural mechanism permitting filibusters. If you
^^^^^^^^^^
"Preventing" is the word that should be there.
> keep talking, the members of the Research Committee will simply pick up
> and leave. Or at least that's the way it should work.
If the RCs can ignore the hearings at will, then the hearings in
general are useless, and they might as well be stricken from the
document.
The strength of the "dissenting opinion" language in the B/M/W draft
is that it guarantees a voice to dissent from the very beginning --
no hearings are even needed.
> If that's unclear,
> then perhaps we can add language giving the committee discretion to open
> and close discussions.
Obviously, giving the committee discretion in this matter negates the
value of the hearing panels to begin with.
--
Kent Crispin, PAB Chair "Do good, and you'll be
[EMAIL PROTECTED] lonesome." -- Mark Twain
