President Bush Touts Samuel Alito Nomination Before Senate Hearings 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 9, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — President Bush had breakfast with Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito this morning and afterwards he told the media the Senate should approve him because he is "eminently qualified" to serve on the high court.
"Sam Alito is eminently qualified to be a member of the bench. I’m not the only person who feels that way," the president explained.
"The American Bar Association looked at his record, looked at his opinions, looked at his temperament, and came to the same conclusion, that he is well qualified to be a Supreme Court judge," Bush said.
"Sam’s got the intellect necessary to bring a lot of class to that court. He’s got a judicial temperament necessary to make sure that the court is a body that interprets the law and doesn’t try to write the law," Bush said.
An announcement from the White House indicated the president said Alito, who has served as a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals for 15 years, has "conducted himself with such dignity and class in the weeks leading up to the confirmation process."
"The Supreme Court is a dignified body. Sam is a dignified person. And my hope, of course, is that the Senate bring dignity to the process and give this man a fair hearing and an up or down vote on the Senate floor," Bush noted.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin its first day of hearings on Alito’s bid to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Today’s hearings will allow senators and Alito to make opening statements.
Questions for the nominee will start Tuesday and many of them are expected to be about the issue of abortion.
Alito, in a 1985 application to become deputy assistant to former Attorney General Edwin Meese, wrote that he "personally believe[s] very strongly" in the legal position that abortion is not a constitutionally protected right.
In another 1985 memo, Alito advised the Reagan administration on how to approach a Supreme Court case regarding abortion to place more restrictions on abortion.
The committee was expected to vote on his nomination on January 17 and the full Senate on January 20, but Senate Democrats are considering using their procedural rights to put off the committee vote for a week. Some pro-abortion Democrats have also threatened a filibuster if Alito doesn’t provide them with satisfactory answers on abortion.
ACTION: Contact members of the Senate and express your opinion about Samuel Alito’s nomination. You can find contact information for all senators at:
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
