Date: January, 9 2006
Senator: Lautenberg
Topic:
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SPECTER: We will now turn to our presenting witnesses, Senator Lautenberg and Governor Whitman.
SPECTER: In accordance with our standing rules of the committee, the presenters will each have five minutes. They've been so informed.
And we first welcome our colleague Senator Frank Lautenberg to present Judge Alito.
LAUTENBERG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Leahy, colleagues on this committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify here today.
Jon Corzine, U.S. senator and now governor-elect in New Jersey, wanted to be here, but transition duties in Trenton prevent him from doing so.
Now, I've been honored to serve in the United States Senate for 21 years. And I'm convinced that our duty to provide advice and consent for justices of the Supreme Court is our most important constitutional responsibility.
Our mandate is to be a nation of laws. And the Supreme Court is the place where we look to safeguard our civil rights and our individual liberties.
But I believe that justices must recognize that our Constitution is an 18th-century document that needs to be applied in the context of the 21st century.
We also depend on the Supreme Court to uphold the integrity of our government.
So I'm privileged to have the opportunity today to introduce Sam Alito Jr. to this committee, and his beautiful family that he brought along to fortify his candidacy.
Judge Alito was born and raised in the great state of New Jersey. Our state has a legacy of producing outstanding jurists, most notably the late William J. Brennan, who ushered in our nation's recommitment to civil rights in the latter half of the 20th century.
Another distinguished jurist, Justice Antonin Scalia, also was born in New Jersey.
LAUTENBERG: In 1950, Sam Alito was born in our state's capital city, Trenton, New Jersey, to a family of worthy achievement.
Justice -- or Judge Alito's father; I'm moving too quickly here. Judge Alito's father was an immigrant from Italy who taught history in high school and later ran the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, which is similar to our own Congressional Research Service, in that it provides objective, unbiased information to the legislature.
Judge Alito's mother was a librarian, teacher and a school principal. And she is now 91 and still, as I understand, residing in the family home in Hamilton, New Jersey.
From his parents, Judge Alito learned the importance of education and integrity.
Judge Alito and his sister went to public school in Hamilton, New Jersey, where they both joined the debating team. It seemed like the debating experience paid off, as both he and his sister have excelled in the legal profession.
Sam Alito then went on to Princeton University, where his yearbook entry predicted that one day he would warm a seat on the Supreme Court.
He graduated from Yale Law School 1975 and then served as a clerk for Circuit Court Judge Leonard Garth, with whom he currently serves.
In 1977, Sam Alito joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, where he met his future wife, Martha, who is present here today. They later moved to Washington, where Sam Alito served as an assistant to the solicitor general and later in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.
In 1987, Judge Alito returned home to New Jersey after President Reagan appointed him U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. He was a strong prosecutor and nobody was surprised when President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the 3rd Circuit Court in 1990.
And I had the privilege of introducing him then, as well.
LAUTENBERG: Judge Alito's accomplishments in life are the embodiment of the American dream. I'm honored today to introduce him to the committee.
He's a young man. If the Senate confirms him for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, he could serve for three decades or even longer, especially judging it from my point of view.
(LAUGHTER)
His decisions would affect our rights, the rights of our children, our grandchildren and other future generations.
Mr. Chairman, you know it well. It is the job of this committee to evaluate Judge Alito's qualifications and fitness for the court, including his views on legal issues. And I know every member of the committee takes that obligation seriously.
And I trust that Judge Alito will be forthcoming and cooperative in this process. I've had a chance to meet him. I know that he responds to the questions that I put to him. Maybe they were too easy, but he responded very well to them.
And I thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm pleased to be here with our former governor, Christine Whitman. And we haven't sat at a table together for a long time, but it's a good opportunity to do so.
Thank you.
SPECTER: Senator Lautenberg, do you care to make a recommendation on the nominee?
(LAUGHTER)
LAUTENBERG: I care to present the evidence, just the evidence, Mr. Chairman, and we'll let the record speak for itself.
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