Today's hearing has been going on for two hours and the House is about to take a series of eight votes. Often, committee chairs will pause a hearing to let members scuttle down to the floor for voting.

But today, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, California Democrat, said he doesn't want to subject their two star witnesses to the wait and said he'll still allow members to continue their questioning, despite the votes.

"Each member will have to make a decision, but I will be here as long as anyone who is willing to be recognized to take their time," Berman said.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office just sent out a statement saying that the four panels over the last two days featuring Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker "offered no surprises."

Petraeus and Crocker "continued to offer the [Bush] administration's rosy assessment of the situation in Iraq despite reality on the ground," says the release. "Even they had to admit, though, that Iraq is not close to achieving security and stability. They also showed that the administration is once again changing rationales for staying in Iraq, focusing their attention on Iran rather than al-Qaeda.

"Even Republicans sounded impatient to hear what the final end game in Iraq is, and what conditions will have to be met before it is possible for us to leave."

— Carrie Sheffield, Web editor, The Washington Times