Conservative Groups Ask for Alternative to Specter in Letter
Convinced that Penn.'s Senator Arlen Specter will block the President's pro-life judicial nominees, conservative groups issue a letter urging Sen. Majority Bill Frist to find another candidate for chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Several prominent pro-family and conservative groups issued Monday a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist asking him to “ensure that the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 109th Congress does not go to Senator Arlen Specter.”
In the letter, the groups charged Penn.'s Sen. Arlen Specter, who is next in line to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, with a bias position against President Bush’s pro-life judicial nominees, citing widely publicized comments made by Specter last Wednesday.
“Among his statements, he said that Roe v. Wade is ‘inviolate’ and that ‘nobody can be confirmed today who does not agree with it,’” read the letter. “Senator Specter has in essence created a litmus test against pro-life nominees to the Supreme Court.
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“These remarks are especially troubling considering the outcome of the election and the mandate the President now has regarding cultural issues – issues that are often determined by judicial appointments,” the letter continued.
The letter comes as part of a backlash from conservative Republicans and religious pro-life groups who say Specter will obstruct a direct up-or-down vote on the President’s judicial nominees if selected to head the Committee.
“We ask you to provide the Senate with an acceptable alternative,” the letter concluded.
The letter was signed by: American Assoc. of Christian Schools, American Family Association, Americans United for Life, Catholic Vote, Concerned Women for America, Culture of Life Foundation, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Liberty Counsel, and
Population Research Institute, among others.
Specter has made several attempts to quell the uproar over his comments. He issued a statement of clarification, addressed the issue on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, and made similar assertions on CNN's “Inside Politics” with Judy Woodruff on Monday.
"I was not warning the president of anything. It was misreported,” Specter said on CNN. He said his records show that he has “supported all of President Bush's nominees in committee and on the floor."
Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel of Concerned Women for America, expressed doubts Specter would carry out his word.
"The facts are that, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial endorsing Specter on Oct. 24, '(Specter) promised (the editorial board) that no extremists would be approved for the bench,'" LaRue said in a statement Tuesday. "He thinks Robert Bork is an extremist. He thinks Jeff Sessions -- his own colleague -- is an extremist. But he doesn't think Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, an ACLU Board member, is an extremist. It's clear you just can't trust him."
The Senate will vote on a chairman in January. According to Senate Rules, the Judiciary member with the most seniority most likely assumes the chair of the Committee. While Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R.-Iowa, another Judiciary member, has more seniority than Specter, he already heads the Finance Committee and said he was not interested in the position. Specter has the second highest seniority on the Committee and has served since 1981.
Orrin G. Hatch, who currently chairs the Committee, must vacate because of a six-year term limit. o-life nominees to the Supreme Court.”
