We did, if possible, but the problem is that we have to coordinate schedules. We have a certain number of meetings and I have to fit in all the witnesses. Some witnesses can't appear at certain times. I'm doing my best to try to limit it to three groups per panel, but in some cases we'll have four. The question becomes, do we have one hour with two witnesses and a second hour with two witnesses, or do we do one panel for two hours with four witnesses? The consensus of the committee is to do two hours with four witnesses, giving members of the committee plenty of time to ask questions, and all members of the committee will have a chance to ask questions.
The reason I'm elaborating on this is that this has been brought up a number of times, and my response has always been the same. If you want to reduce the number of groups on a particular panel from four down to three or two, you must give me direction as chair to add additional meetings to the study that would extend it well into May. If that's the wish of the committee, I will do so, but at this point I haven't been given that direction. At this point we have a limited number of meetings and a great number of witnesses we need to hear from. So I will do my best to restrict it to two or three witnesses per meeting, but in some cases we'll have four. I cannot help but do that because I'm restricted by what the committee has told me to do.
I hope that puts the issue to rest—