Procedure and House Affairs committee  The original board was selected as an outgrowth of that original study in 1985, the Strauss-Laird study. At the time, Paul Kirk and Frank Fahrenkopf were the chairs of the Democratic and Republican national committees respectively. They took steps to incorporate the commission an

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I know. It's sad.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  He turned to his House colleague and said, “You know, the American public doesn't give a”—blank, blank—“who sponsors them. They just want to know they will happen.” There was silence for a few seconds after that, while we all tried not to giggle or feign offence. It was a cogent

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Bittle, we try to spread the pain. We try first of all not to have two debates on any one night, no two debates on a Tuesday, for instance. It's not just the networks' commitments, it is also federal and religious holidays, obviously, in October. It is a very, very difficul

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No one ever says, “Attagirl.” No one writes us and says, “Wow, that was so great. Thank you. Please keep it up.” You know this: you are all in public service. You will hear from the critics. You will get beat up a lot. It is very important to try to keep the focus on what the ma

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There were three presidential and one vice-presidential.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's correct.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Simply, I think “commission” is actually a really lovely word, but in most countries, and certainly in this country, I think it implies that there has been an official commission given to a person or an entity. In this country, it leads people to assume that we are congressionall

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's not—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If we go to someone and say that we were wondering if they would like to support our educational work, or the work that is involved in putting on the debates, and they ask why they would need to do that because we are federally funded and obviously federally chartered, it's simpl

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No. I am not saying that it's a bad thing. I think if we're—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That would be a big question. It would be one that the board would have to consider very carefully. It wouldn't be that easy. We are a legal entity. For Congress to come and say that would be a totally de novo issue that would have to be addressed. I am not saying that I think i

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't know. That's a very complicated question. One would have to sit down and try to figure out the responsible way to answer it. Our commitment is to make sure the debates happen. Very early in our first year, I had reason to be in the office of a very senior United States s