Washington D.C., Jan 24, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved the nomination of Samuel Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 10-to-8 party-line vote sent Alito's nomination to the full Senate, where he could be confirmed possibly this week.
The Judiciary Committee voted only after each of the 18 members had delivered extended remarks that lasted almost three hours, reported the Times.
Committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a pro-abortion supporter, said he was satisfied by Alito’s answers, even those concerning a “woman’s right to choose” and would vote for him.
Before becoming a federal judge in New Jersey, Alito had written that Roe v. Wade was "wrongly decided" and had laid out a strategy to dismantle it, reported the Times. But during his confirmation hearings, Alito said he was simply articulatning the views and policies of the Reagan administration. He did not say whether he accepted the judgment as "settled law."