Mr. Rowley. Well, we checked on that, Mr. Chief Justice, and the agent in charge reported that they were in good physical condition. I don't condone these late hours; no. This is not a rule. This case is an exception. However, because of the activities of any travel such as the Presidents today make from one place to another, to maybe seven States in a weekend, there is constant going.
I don't condone this at all. But these men are young. They are of such age that I think that they responded in this instance adequately and sufficiently as anyone could under the circumstances.
The Chairman. Well, I am thinking of this. As you go along in the motorcade, you have men who are scanning the buildings along the way, don't you?
Mr. Rowley. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. And they have submachineguns in one of the cars.
Mr. Rowley. No; for security reasons, I would like to—we don't have machine-guns now, sir.
The Chairman. I just thought I heard that from the record here, that they had some kind of guns.
Mr. Rowley. They had a weapon, a new weapon; yes, sir.
Mr. Chairman. Well, whatever it is.
Now, other people, as they went along there, even some people in the crowds, saw a man with a rifle up in this building from which the President was shot. Now, don't you think that if a man went to bed reasonably early, and hadn't been drinking the night before, would be more alert to see those things as a Secret Service agent, than if they stayed up until 3, 4, or 5 o'clock in the morning, going to beatnik joints and doing some drinking along the way?