Floor debate opens on Alito nomination

WASHINGTON — Floor debate on Samuel Alito's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court will begin today, one day after Sen. Orrin Hatch and other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of the nominee.

With Republicans controlling more than half of the 100 Senate seats, Alito is all but certain to win approval for the lifetime post as an associate justice.

Sen. Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the minority leader, insisted Democrats are still considering a filibuster, though other senators and top aides say it is extremely unlikely the party will use the parliamentary maneuver to block Alito.

The Senate could vote by the end of the week.

Tuesday's committee vote fell directly along party lines with Hatch, R-Utah, and the nine other Republicans voting for Alito and the committee's eight Democrats voting against him.

Republicans praised Alito's "integrity" and "strong character" with each member's statement differing little from the next.

Hatch, and other Republicans, brought up his strong support from the American Bar Association and the testimony earlier this month from seven current and former members of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, where Alito now serves.

"All of the evidence, every bit of it, points to a judge who honors his oath to be impartial and to render justice without respect to persons," Hatch said. "Like America's founders, Judge Alito clearly believes in self-government, that the people and not judges should make law, and that judges have an important role but must know and stay in their proper place. That is why his critics oppose him, and that is why he must be confirmed."

Hatch said after the meeting, that the vote comes down to the issue of abortion.

"I don't know where Sam Alito stands on that issue," Hatch said. "I don't know what he will do when he gets on the Supreme Court — nor should I know, because that's an issue that is in play on the court and, frankly, he shouldn't discuss that."

Hatch said Alito deserved a unanimous vote out of the committee and that he was "very disappointed" that some "have played politics with this particular nomination."

Abortion right supporters have come out strongly against Alito, fearing he will undermine Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision handed down 33 years ago Sunday that legalized abortion.