Arlen Specter: “I support the nomination by President Bush of Circuit Court Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to the Supreme Court of the…”

“I support the nomination by President Bush of Circuit Court Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to the Supreme Court of the United States because he is qualified. In coming to my conclusion, my staff and I have undertaken an extensive review of Judge Alito's record and of his some 361 opinions in total. We have categorized 238 of those as major decisions while serving on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. We have reviewed 49 of the cases that Judge Alito handled during his tenure as U.S. attorney. We have made an analysis of 43 speeches and articles Judge Alito authorized and evaluations of 38 formal opinions, petitions, and Supreme Court briefs which Judge Alito wrote while serving in the Department of Justice. Additionally, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony of some 30 hours and 20 minutes where we had 17 hours and 45 minutes of questioning of Judge Alito and testimony from 33 outside witnesses. It is on the basis of that voluminous record that it is my personal view that Judge Alito ought to be confirmed. He has a background from a father who was an immigrant from Italy, not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, came up the hard way, had the extraordinary academic record at Princeton and the Yale Law School, worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, then was U.S. Attorney and worked in the Department of Justice, and for 15 years has been on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.…”