Proxmire sought dismissal. "Proxmire and Hutchinson [each] won some legal points, but neither scored a knockout." As Proxmire put it, "The district court concluded that neither I nor my legislative assistant defamed Dr. Hutchinson. The court of appeals recently held that Dr. Hutchinson is entitled to reconsideration of this ruling. Dr. Hutchinson and I, however, have agreed that further litigation is unnecessary," instead agreeing to a settlement. Proxmire agreed to pay Hutchinson $10,000 out of his own pocket; the Senate covered Proxmire's $124,351 in legal bills. While stopping short of an apology or recantation, Proxmire took to the Senate floor on March 24, 1980, stating in part, "Some of my statements concerning Dr. Hutchinson's research may be subject to an interpretation different from the one I intended and I am happy to clarify them.” Specifically, Proxmire made these clarifications: I stated that all of the public funding was given to Dr. Hutchinson of Kalamazoo State Hospital. While Dr. Hutchinson directed the research, the Federal funding went to the State of Michigan for this research. Dr. Hutchinson received his salary as an employee of the State. I stated that Dr. Hutchinson's projects were extremely similar and perhaps duplicative. I know of no evidence that Dr. Hutchinson ever received extra money for work that duplicated earlier work that had already been funded. In my press release, I stated that Dr. Hutchinson made a fortune from his monkeys. While the amount of Federal expenditure was large and provided support for Dr. Hutchinson's research for a number of years, the fact is that Dr. Hutchinson did not [make] a personal fortune. Proxmire continued to issue the Golden Fleece Award until his retirement from the Senate in 1989. References External links </ref> United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court United States defamation case law United States separation of powers case law 1979 in United States case law