This is simply an attempt by committee Democrats to clarify the factual record, where Mr. Starr was vague, evasive, forgetful or perhaps not altogether candid.

Never once have Democrats benefited from attempts at reasonableness and compromise and accommodation. To the contrary, Bush and his team seem to view political compromise as weakness, and they punish it rather than reward or reciprocate it.

I think that accepting an artificial time limit on this particular inquiry would be about as foolish as the Democrats who controlled the Watergate committee felt the same thing would be.

Absolutely no winners have emerged from this. All sides have been damaged - the democrats, the government, Beijing and Hong Kong society in general.

[Democrats contended that Republicans cannot be trusted to run an impartial investigation.] After the flood comes the whitewash, ... The job of this Congress is not to run interference for the Bush administration.

Democrats say Republican wins (statewide) have been a fluke. Republicans say it's a trend. We will have to see in November. It could be a trend if Republicans win again.