Alito Questioning Begins Today

Supreme Court Nominee Says Judges Shouldn't Have An Agenda

(CBS/AP)  Republican Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio offered a counterpoint. "Your modest approach to judging seems to bode well for our democracy," he said.

The hearings come just months after the Senate confirmed John Roberts as chief justice, and Republicans frequently cited the standard set by Roberts in his hearings for the high court.

Republicans also defended Alito, describing him as a fair-minded and brilliant jurist who would be a welcome addition to the court.

"Sam's got the intellect necessary to bring a lot of class to that court," said President Bush in a good-luck sendoff for Alito at the White House.

Alito, said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, "has a reputation for being an exceptional and honest judge devoted to the rule of law, and a man of integrity."

Alito, 55, introduced members of his family — his wife Martha, his sister Rosemary, who is an employment lawyer, his son Philip, a college student, and daughter, Laura, who is in high school — and then sat and listened to the opening statements from committee members.

Politics loomed large in the confirmation process, but Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah urged his colleagues to put them aside in assessing Alito's qualifications.

"We must apply a judicial, not a political, standard to this record," Hatch said.

Ten-minute opening statements by the senators — 10 Republicans and eight Democrats — consumed most of the opening session. Specter has called for a committee vote by Jan. 17.

Republican leaders hope for confirmation by the full Senate on Jan. 20, but Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would not promise the schedule would hold.

Alito was Bush's second choice to replace O'Connor. White House counsel Harriet Miers withdrew from consideration after conservatives questioned her judicial philosophy and qualifications for the Supreme Court.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York cited the conservative response to the two nominations.

"The same critics who called the president on the carpet for naming Harriet Miers have rolled out the red carpet for you," Schumer said. "We would be remiss if we did not explore why."

Republicans say there is no reason to delay or filibuster Alito. Senators who have met privately with Alito say he told them that his 1985 written comments maintaining there was no constitutional right to abortion were only part of a job application for the Reagan administration, which opposed abortion.

He wrote in a separate legal memo while at the Justice Department that the department should try to chip away at abortion rights rather than mount an all-out assault.

"We will ask you: 'Do you still "personally believe very strongly that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion?"' Schumer said.

No matter what Alito says, some Democrats will oppose him, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, predicted.

"I am reluctantly inclined to the view that you and any other nominee of this president for the Supreme Court start with no more than 13 votes in this committee, and only 78 votes in the full Senate with a solid, immovable and unpersuadable block of at least 22 votes against you, no matter what you say or do," the statement said.