In an April 25 Associated Press article about the House subcommittee hearings on "The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009," reporter Laurie Kellman asserted that former Vice President Al Gore “bragged” when he testified, “I have read all 648 pages of this bill,” adding that Gore's statement was “a boast that would surprise no one who caught his teacher's-pet performance in the 2000 presidential race.” However, Kellman did not mention that Gore made his statement after Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) specifically asked Gore and former Sen. John Warner (R-VA), his co-panelist, “Have you each read the bill in its entirety?”

In addition, Kellman misrepresented an exchange between Gore and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), falsely claiming that Gore “compared Barton and Bernard Madoff, who swindled investors out of $50 billion.” In fact, Gore did no such thing; rather, he compared Barton to “the investors who trusted Bernie Madoff.”

From Gore's exchange with Walden:

WALDEN: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Vice President, Senator, it's good to have you before the committee.

I wanted to just note that, Mr. Vice President, your reference to 30 cents a day comes from an EPA study, I believe. Unfortunately, that EPA study also assumes 150 percent growth in nuclear power in order to achieve that 30 cents a day. And that nuclear part is not in this bill.

I know there's concern about worker retraining. Mr. Vice President, you said you wanted every coal worker who lost his job to get a job. Unfortunately, the worker-transition piece in this bill -- all we have is in parentheses, “to be supplied” -- page 568 of the bill.

And I've asked every other witness this: Have you each read the bill in its entirety? Can I get a yes or no?

GORE: Congressman, I have read all 648 pages of this bill. It took me two transcontinental flights --

WALDEN: I'm with --

GORE: -- on United Airlines to finish it.

WALDEN: And I get on another one at 12 -- or at 2 o'clock.

From Gore's exchange with Barton:

GORE: Congressman Barton, I want to address your -- the point that you made about the science.

I don't question your sincerity for one moment --

BARTON: And I don't question yours. So, we're equal on that.

GORE: Thank you.

I believe that it's important to look at the sources of the science that we rely on. With all due respect, I believe that you have relied on people you have trusted, who've given you bad information. I don't blame the investors who trusted Bernie
Madoff, but he gave them bad information, and --

BARTON: I've never talked to Bernie Madoff.

GORE: I'm not saying that you -- I'm not saying that you have. But he gave them bad information and committed a massive fraud that ended up hurting most of all the people who trusted him.

From the April 25 AP article:

“I have read all 648 pages of this bill,” Gore bragged, a boast that would surprise no one who caught his teacher's-pet performance in the 2000 presidential race. “It took me two transcontinental flights on United Airlines to finish it.”

Also not surprising, Gore endorsed the bill.

[...]

When Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, asked Gore to explain the cost of the climate legislation, Gore ignored him. Instead, he held up The New York Times and summarized an article supporting his contention that some corporations had ignored their own research showing humans caused global warming.

Barton asked him to answer the question. Gore again held up the paper and summarized the story.

Gore then compared Barton and Bernard Madoff, who swindled investors out of $50 billion, prompting Barton to interrupt Gore: “I've never talked to Bernie Madoff.”

“I'm not saying that you have,” Gore replied.

He continued, challenging opponents of the legislation to “find the moral courage” to support it and the “moral imagination” to accept the problem. He lectured the panel on “the reality of the world today,” pointing out that, “I gave my slide show to the Indian Parliament.”