Foreseeing a 'subtle minuet'
Following are excerpts from opening statements at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Alito nomination:
''There is nothing that is more important for our republic than the rule of law. No person in this country, no matter how high or powerful, is above the law, and no person in this country is beneath the law."
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.
''While I personally consider it inappropriate to ask a nominee how he would vote on a specific matter likely to come before the court, senators may ask whatever they choose and the nominee is similarly free to respond as he chooses. It has been my experience that the hearings are a subtle minuet with nominees answering as many questions as they think they have to in order to be confirmed."
Senator Arlen Specter
Republican of Pennsylvania
''Groups are trying to defeat your nomination because you will not support their liberal agenda."
Senator John Cornyn
Republican of Texas
''The challenge for Judge Alito . . . is to demonstrate that he will protect the rights and liberties of all Americans and serve as an effective check on government overreaching."
Senator Patrick J. Leahy
Democrat of Vermont
''While every Supreme Court nominee has a great burden, yours, Judge Alito, is triply high. First, because you have been named to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the pivotal swing vote on a divided court; second, because you have been picked to placate the extreme right wing after the hasty withdrawal of Harriet Miers; and, finally, because your record of opinions and statements on a number of critical Constitutional questions seems quite extreme."
Senator Charles Schumer
Democrat of New York
''In an era when the White House is abusing power, is excusing and authorizing torture, and is spying on American citizens, I find Judge Alito's support for an all-powerful executive branch to be genuinely troubling."
Senator Edward Kennedy
Democrat of Massachusetts
''Judge Alito has an impressive and extensive legal and judicial record, certainly one worthy of a Supreme Court justice . . . Yet, some liberal interest groups have come out in full force, and have attempted to paint Judge Alito to be an extremist . . . So, Judge Alito, now you have an opportunity to set everyone straight on your record and your approach to deciding cases."
Senator Charles Grassley
Republican of Iowa
''The Constitution provides for one democratic moment, Judge, before a lifetime of judicial independence. . . . We -- you and I and this committee -- owe it to the American people in this one democratic moment to have a conversation about the issues that will affect their lives profoundly. They're entitled to know what you think."
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Democrat of Delaware
''If this testimony suggests that that would change the ideological balance, if you would change the ideological balance, therefore you should not be approved, I would say that that notion is not anywhere in the understanding of the role of the judges. . . . Seats on the bench are not reserved for causes or interests. They're given to those who will uphold the rule of law so long as the nominee is well-qualified to interpret and apply the law."
Senator Sam Brownback
Republican of Kansas 