Date: January 11, 2006
Senator: Various - Specter\Leahy
Topic:
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SPECTER: We're trying to figure out what the schedule is going to be for the balance of the evening and for the balance of the week. We now have Senator Biden, who's requested 20 minutes, and Senator Feinstein 10 and Senator Durbin 10 -- all of which will be done tomorrow.
Anybody who wants a fourth round, I want to do the third rounds tonight so that we can move ahead promptly tomorrow.
LEAHY: Mr. Chairman, I think that if we want to do this, one, the judge and his family have been sitting here all day. He's been answering questions. He has shown more equanimity than most of us would. You sat here through the whole thing. I've sat here through most of it. But senators can come and go. He can't. He's had to sit through all of it. His family's had to sit through all of it. And that has to be a strain.
I don't remember most teenage sons that would show that much attention on these things. But I would suggest that we will probably have far better questions if we can go back and go over.
I know what I want to do -- I want to go over some of the -- I'm not going to have an awful lot of questions, but I'd like to go back. There's three or four places, from my notes, that I have questions. But I want to read the transcript so when I ask the question, in fairness to the judge, I'm going specifically to the transcript.
So I think, you know, this is the same thing we did with Chief Justice Roberts. We came back on that last day, as I recall. And I think we wrapped up around 1:00, 1:30 in the afternoon.
SPECTER: We wrapped up about 11:00 or a little before 11:00.
LEAHY: Oh, did we? OK.
SPECTER: A little before 11:00.
You were having so much fun, it seems time goes by so quickly.
SPECTER: We do not have word from Senator Kohl or Senator Feingold. Suppose we put a maximum of 25 minutes on the next round for tomorrow and suppose we start at 9:00. That means the only people that have to be here are Senator Leahy and myself at 9:00.
LEAHY: Well, I will be here at 9:00. I'm here usually a lot earlier than that.
SPECTER: Senator Schumer, just on the auctioneer said yes.
LEAHY: That's OK. I'll along with that.
And understand, though, and I would assume, you have always been fair, if we run into some extraordinary problems, somebody may need a few more minutes.
SPECTER: Anybody who satisfies your extraordinary problem test will get more time.
LEAHY: OK.
SPECTER: Make it your test.
LEAHY: Thank you very much.
SPECTER: Without objection, so ordered.
Judge Alito, you have shown remarkable stamina and you have shown in my opinion remarkable patience. I think it's unwise for any senator, including the chairman, to do too much commenting about anybody's questioning, but you have been patient.
And people may not like your answers, but they are your answers. We have precedent for that. Nobody has even said they are misleading. They say they just don't like them.
But you have been consistent and very patient in stating your position, even though you have been called upon to state it repetitively and repetitively and repetitively.
So I think it is well within the gambit of fairness to say that you have been patient and you've shown real stamina, as has Mrs. Alito and has your loyal family.
So we will proceed at 9:00 tomorrow, and we will have 20 minutes for Senator Biden, 10 minutes for Senator Feinstein, 10 minutes for Senator Durbin. And my expectation is we will not have a great deal of time for Senator Kohl. I'm not sure about Senator Feingold. And anybody else will be limited to 25 minutes on the final round, subject to the Leahy exceptional circumstance standard.
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