Though contentious, yesterday's hearing underscored the mayor's and the Council's lack of any real influence over the subways, buses and commuter railroads that keep the city's residents and workers moving.

The hearings underscored the tensions between security and secrecy that could trip up lawmakers as they work on the details of the department's final form.

Such hearings will further underscore for agencies the importance that Congress places on creating high-performing government organizations.

The hearing underscored how the military justice system does not provide some of the legal protections of civilian law.

Whether or not it unearths criminal activities, the commission's hearings have already underscored the urgent need for sweeping changes in the management of the school system.

But today's hearing underscored the political truism that the Senate takes care of its own.

The hearing on Friday underscored just how tangled the Florida election law governing absentee ballots is.

Senator Sam Nunn, Democrat of Georgia, who voted to confirm, said the hearing "underscored the need for the men of this country to do some serious soul-searching about how they treat their female colleagues in this country."

But more than anything, the hearing underscored the divide between Indians and non-Indians in the part of the country where most of the nation's tribes reside.