The sensational, the tragic and the banal: harvest of probes

THE all-purpose phrase “in aid of legislation” is used by senators and congressmen to justify their conduct of committee hearings and investigations on matters of public and national interest, and to generate nationwide interest in the hearings. With the promise of juicy revelations and fireworks, they are able to secure live coverage of the hearings by the leading broadcast networks.

Since the start of the new millennium, countless inquiries have been conducted by Congress. And their harvest has ranged from the sensational to the tragic to the banal. Yet rarely have the investigations produced the legislation in whose name they were carried out by the honorable members of Congress.