Senator: Specter
SPECTER: I'm going to set the clock at five minutes, which will be the extent of my comments on Judge Alito. My request to the members is to be brief. We will be on the floor tomorrow with opportunity to make very lengthy speeches.
I do not believe, notwithstanding all of the cameras here today, that there's a great deal of suspense as to what's going to happen in this committee hearing. Everybody, I think has announced, or if not, everybody knows where everybody stands. So that to the extent that we can be brief it would be appreciated.
We all know that that's only the chairman's request, but I'm going to set the example by staying within five minutes. And it would be my hope that we could move along, because there will be a full opportunity for extended speeches tomorrow.
I'll start the clock.
I intend to vote for Judge Alito for Supreme Court of the United States.
SPECTER: I do so because I think he is qualified.
His personal background is exemplary. His professional qualifications are outstanding. His educational achievements are of the highest order.
And I believe that, in presenting himself to this committee, he has answered questions as far as he could go. He did not decline to answer questions based on the fact that cases might come before him, but instead, on the issues, discussed the considerations that would guide him in coming to his decisions.
He did not say what his ultimate decision would be, as he should not, because no nominee ought to be asked to decide in advance how he is going to rule on any specific case.
On the issue of a woman's right to choose, it is my judgment that he went as far as he could go. He emphasized the factor of stare decisis and precedents, and the reliance factor, which was paramount in the Casey decision.
He agreed with Justice Harlan's dissent in Ullman v. Poe about the Constitution being a living document. Agreed with Cardozo in Palko about representing the values of our society. And agreed with Chief Justice Rehnquist, who changed his views on Miranda over three decades, when police practices had become embedded in the culture of a society.
And it is my view that a woman's right to choose has been embedded in the culture of our society. But our function is to vote on nominees; and justices must decide the ultimate question.
SPECTER: I think that his statements about Roe as settled law were very, very similar to what Chief Justice Roberts had to say. Chief Justice Roberts said Roe was settled in beyond, but he left room for stare decisis and precedents to be changed, and so did Judge Alito, as I think any nominee must in terms of not making an ultimate decision.
We have seen the rule that there is no rule as to how nominees will act once they're on the court. When Justice Souter was up, the National Organization of Women flooded Capitol Hill with a rally: "Stop Souter or women will die." And there was a similar pamphlet distributed as to Judge Alito.
Justice Kennedy and Justice O'Connor spoke in very, very strong terms against abortion rights before they came to the court, and we know that Souter and Kennedy and O'Connor wrote the joint opinion in Casey v. Planned Parenthood, and have been staunchly in favor of a woman's right to choose.
I thought that Judge Alito went about as far as he could go on discussing executive power and congressional power. I was pleased to see that he did not adhere to the Supreme Court opinion that justices have a superior method of reasoning to senators.
And I thought that the judges who testified on his behalf got to the core of the concerns of many members that he is not an ideologue and that he does have an open mind. And those are men and women who go with him into conferences where they talk about the cases and know the most about the judges.
SPECTER: Former Circuit Judge Tim Lewis, African-American, was very explicit in talking about his being pro-choice and in favor of civil liberties, and supported Judge Alito wholeheartedly.
I am personally sorry to see a party-line vote out of this committee, and perhaps very close to a party-line vote out of the full Senate. But we all have our points of view.
I would hope that Judge Alito would consider him confirmed for all the people, if he is, in fact, confirmed, and that he has pro- choice supporters. And there are six Republicans or more who are pro- choice.
I conclude on zero.
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