Orrin Hatch: “I say I am hardly going to bring him back just on the speculation he is going to answer questions the way you think he…”

“I say I am hardly going to bring him back just on the speculation he is going to answer questions the way you think he ought to answer them when in fact he answered questions the way all of his predecessors have answered them. Basically, they were answered this way: With regard to Roe v. Wade, he basically said regardless of my personal feelings, I am going to uphold the law. That is the law. That is what everybody has said who appeared before my committee when I was chairman during the 6 years of the Clinton administration. They didn't come out and say yes, I am for Roe v. Wade. If they had, I would not have held that against them because I presumed they were, anyway. But the fact of the matter is virtually every one of them basically said: Regardless of my personal views, I am going to uphold the law, which is what he said. I guess what I am asking is--if you will give me a list of your questions that you asked, that you feel there was not a forthright answer--I don't know of any where there wasn't a forthright answer; it may not have been what you wanted--I will be happy to take those back to him again and get you answers that would be more detailed, if that is what you want. Or, as an alternative, would it be possible for us to have 1 day of hearings where we encourage him to answer questions in more detail, because that is what you appear to want--even though I thought his answers were more than adequate--and I would attempt to do that.”