A Man With Honor:
from Ben Nelson's website at
http://bennelson.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=250465&&
"NELSON SUPPORTS ALITO FOR SUPREME COURT
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to serve as the 110th Justice of the United States Supreme Court now completed, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson issued the following statement:
“I have decided to vote in favor of Judge Samuel Alito to serve as the 110th Justice of the United States Supreme Court. I came to this decision after careful consideration of his impeccable judicial credentials, the American Bar Association's strong recommendation and his pledge that he would not bring a political agenda to the Court.”
Last year, Senator Nelson was a leader among the group of Senators that developed a resolution to the partisan impasse over judicial nominations. That agreement cleared a number of President Bush’s nominees that were being blocked by filibuster while preserving the Senate’s rules and traditions.
Nelson served as Nebraska’s Governor from 1991 to 1999. During his two terms, Nelson appointed the entire Nebraska Supreme Court, the entire Nebraska Court of Appeals, and more than half of the sitting judges in Nebraska. Since elected to the United States Senate in 2000, Nelson has supported more than 215 of President Bush’s nominations to the Federal Bench, including Chief Justice John Roberts."
And another:
http://johnson.senate.gov/%7Ejohnson/releases/200601/2006126512.html
Contact: Julianne Fisher, Joshua Rosenblum (202)224-5842
Johnson to Vote for Alito
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Washington, DC—U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) released the following statement in regards to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court:
"There are few decisions of more lasting and profound consequence that a United States Senator must make than the decision whether to vote to confirm a nominee to a lifetime appointment to the United States Supreme Court. Accordingly, I have reviewed the record and the commentary relative to the Samuel Alito nomination with great care and deliberation.
"The decision on the Alito nomination is more difficult than was the case for now Chief Justice John G. Roberts, inasmuch as Judge Alito's long record raises concerns across a broad range of areas. Clearly, he would not have been my pick for the Supreme Court.
"Nonetheless, I must conclude that Judge Alito possesses a high level of legal skill, is a man of solid personal integrity, and that his views fall within the mainstream of contemporary conservative jurisprudential thinking. At the conclusion of Senate floor debate, I will oppose any effort to filibuster his nomination and I will vote to confirm Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court.
"While it is not the role of the Senate to "rubber stamp" any President's judicial nominations, it is also true that any President's choice deserves due deference. Judge Alito deserves the same deference that Republican Senators accorded the Supreme Court nominees of President Clinton. I am mindful that Justice Ginsberg, a former counsel to the ACLU, was confirmed with 96 Senate votes in her favor.
"I do not believe that simple political ideology ought to be a deciding factor so long as the nominee's views are not significantly outside the mainstream of American legal thinking. I also believe that the judicial nomination and confirmation process in recent years has become overly politicized to the detriment of the rule of law.
"I am troubled by Judge Alito's apparent views on matters such as executive power, his past opposition to the principle of one person, one vote, and his narrow interpretation of certain civil rights laws. Even so, I cannot accept an argument that his views are so radical that the Senate is justified in denying his confirmation."