I agree with our need to be frugal, but I'm concerned about the process. My experience has been that from time to time we examine issues requiring us to go to another city or whatever, and we're suddenly phoning your office or the clerk's office and making recommendations about witnesses. In the perfect world, we would have the opportunity to all meet and talk about witnesses, but, Mr. Chair, you and I both know that sometimes these witnesses are put together at the last minute.
For instance, we were hoping to have a discussion on Tuesday on whatever it is that we may be discussing. That leaves us tomorrow and Monday to get witnesses. What if, under these circumstances, there's an organization from which, one of us feels, two people need to come? The committee isn't going to have the opportunity to get together and talk about it.
I'm suggesting that it be the decision of the chair in consultation with the subcommittee so that you need call only three people to talk about it instead of having it implied that the whole committee has to agree on this.