A few pages later, when Odysseus again recites the list of gifts, he uses another thirty-five lines of poetry. No, and Odysseus did not need to repeat the list, but it does fill up time and paper. The same types of padding occur in Senator Leahy's speech. This alone fills one full page. Other repetitions echo the descriptive phrases of Homer.
More bulk comes from the repetition of facts already known.
Senator Ashcroft's voting record is recited, as are his stands on issues, his actions as Missouri Attorney General, his conduct while he ran for public office-if anything Senator Ashcroft did was reported anywhere, Senator Leahy repeats it in his speech, whether we have heard it before or not. That he did not proves that we may not enjoy epic-length speeches, but the need to write them has not left humankind. Specifically, the Attorney General supervises the selection and actions of the 93 United States Attorneys and their assistants and the U.S. Marshals Service and its offices in each State. The Attorney General supervises the FBI and its activities in this country and around the world, the INS, the DEA, the Bureau of Prisons and many other federal law enforcement components. The Attorney General evaluates judicial candidates and recommends judicial nominees to the President, advises on the constitutionality of bills and laws, determines when the Federal Government will sue an individual, business or local government, decides what statutes to defend in court and what arguments to make to the Supreme Court, other federal courts and State courts on behalf of the United States Government.