Arlen Specter Quotes (236 Quotes)

I'm really sorry that on doctrinal grounds they don't understand that she cannot tip her hand on Roe. I really think ... they're failing to understand a very basic constitutional principle of judicial independence,

John Roberts has a broad, expansive understanding of the application of the Constitution. He did say the core principles of liberty and due process have broad meaning as applied to evolving societal conditions.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision rejected Congress' findings and its method of reasoning, ... Is there any real justification for the court's denigrating Congress' 'method of reasoning'

It is my hope that partisanship will stop at the columns of the Senate.

Sen. Leahy and I took a look at it and agreed that it was insufficient and are sending back a detailed letter asking for amplification on many, many of the items,

When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, who'd overturn Roe versus Wade, I think that is unlikely, ... And I have said that bluntly during the course of the campaign, that Roe versus Wade was inviolate.

I've not said that the vice president has done anything wrong, ... What I have said is there is a basis for (an) independent counsel.

the chief justice is not going to leave, because I think that every day he goes to work knowing he has very important work to do.

My No. 1 priority is to get Rick Santorum re-elected in 2006. I would vote for him to any Senate leadership job, I would help him become president.

I understand that you were sent over in a very limited capacity, with perhaps the calculation that you didn't have this information,

It would be quite a sacrifice for her, but she's prepared to do it if she is asked, ... By next June we'll know a lot more about Judge Roberts ... than we do today.

I read in the morning papers that we are under a lot of pressure. You may have missed the papers, but you won't miss the pressure.

I'm not at all critical of the letter. I think it's perfectly appropriate.

I had not seen such passion or fervor from the president since two days after 911, ... His force, I thought, was impressive and I am re-thinking the issue.

The next chief justice will have the potential to change the court's image in the eyes of many as a superlegislature and to bring consensus to the court which has made a hallmark of 5-4 decisions, many of which are inexplicable.

I think there is a consensus on the committee that we do not (support) the criminalization of a large number of people.

Had that information been shared with the FBI, which was trying to get it, 911 might have been prevented,

When the students are occupied, they're not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.

Noting that Bush said during the third campaign debate that he would not impose a litmus test ... would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations I've mentioned.

I think that ... Senator Helms may really make a martyr out of Bill Weld here, ... Evans and Novak.

There likely will be a national debate about whether the president really has the kind of power he's been using.

But I don't believe in a quota system, and it may be that at this particular time, President Bush would like to have someone other than a woman, and I don't think his hands ought to be tied.

We're going to have a vote on this one day soon.

There's a very decisive bipartisan flavor to this vote,

The new chief justice will have his work cut out to try and bring consensus to the court, ... There is much to be done to move away from the 5-4 decisions of the court.

I know this issue will be responded to when you complete your questionnaire, ... But I think it is not advisable to wait until that time, which would allow columnists, radioTV talk shows and your adversaries to speculate on this issue to the detriment of your nomination.

You really wonder with all the tremendously important issues that the court faces ... that the woman's right to choose dominates the scene, but it does, ... That's the principal battle line which is present.

the underlying decision in Roe. v Wade, but I'm sure it will be a subject of discussion at the hearings.

His approach of modesty, of stability, and away from judicial activism, I think, is a model. Whether it is carried out, remains to be seen.

You think you're right, but there are a lot of people who think you're wrong. What do you have to lose if you're right

I do hope that when we in the Congress, both in this body -- when responsibilities come to the Senate -- and the other body, in the House of Representatives, there will be an approach which is bipartisan and nonpartisan in nature,

Mr. Rove, like every other citizen, is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and until somebody says that he's done something wrong, he ought to be permitted to go about his business like anybody else.

Sen. Leahy and I have our differences, but when it comes to procedures on the committee and setting how things are going to be done, I consult with him at every turn,

You did something you didn't understand and you got caught up in a web, ... You tried to hide it ...

And there is a lot more to the issue of a woman's right to choose than how you may feel about it personally. We have a long tradition in the court.

Basically, Americans do not understand the gravity of the oversights on what appears to be the case with both the FBI and the CIA,

We are not utilizing the Iraqi oil for U.S. purposes. We are not asking that the Iraqi oil be used to pay our military expenses. We are asking only that the Iraqi oil be used to rebuild Iraq - that is, to rebuild Iraq for the Iraqi people.

I should stay away from a discussion of specific cases,

this was my case. I had organized, nurtured and developed it. I was the lead plaintiff and had participated in the legal preparation and court arguments at every stage.

At any rate, Congress hasn't acted, and that's really what the focus of our hearing is today as to what ought to be done.

The Senate and the Judiciary Committee can accomplish more in three cooperative hours than in three days or three weeks of disharmonious activity,

There is a little different approach in confirmation of the chief justice, ... I'm concerned about the conferences, about bringing the court together.

There's a very keen interest in learning more on all sides,

meets the U.N. inspection demands, okay. A diplomatic settlement is always preferable to a military air strike, even though Saddam Hussein has carried us to the brink of war, inflicted a lot of psychological damage and a lot of money costs. If the fine pr

Senator Reid is entitled to his opinion, but he's not the president of the United States, and he doesn't administer justice in this country,

And I think he may have a little different view about television, something that I have advocated for more than a decade in the court, ... He's a new generation.

It is my hope that the president will now send us a nominee for Justice O'Connor's spot in the mold of Judge Roberts,

We are proceeding in a matter of the utmost, utmost gravity -- the potential for impeachment of the president of the United States -- and I think American people will demand and are entitled to that kind of bipartisanship,

Wait a minute. They may be misleading, but they are his answers, ... You may finish, Judge Roberts.

I am very anxious to get this hearing into the hearing room, where we have a stenographer and we have a witness and we have orderly procedures, ... and take the proceedings away from the back rooms and away from the conference calls and away from the corridors and do it like the Constitution says it ought be done.