Judge Alito and I interviewed for
our positions in the Solicitor General's office the same day.
Like me, Judge Alito had applied to Judge Wade McCree, the
Solicitor General of the United States during the Carter
Administration, and we were both interviewed by Judge McCree and
the four deputies in the office. We spent a somewhat
awkward lunch together that day because we were both
interviewing for the same job and were seated by ourselves
rather than with the other lawyers in the SG's office. But
from that conversation we developed a friendship that deepened
when it turned out that we bot were hired by Judge McCree to be
Assistants and we both began our employment in June 1981, while
the Judge was still the Solicitor General.
It was clear to me then and is
still clear to me that Judge Alito did not bring with him any
kind of agenda to the position of Assistant to the Solicitor
General. He would have been just as comfortable in that
position whether the President was Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan
and whether the Solicitor General was Wade McCree or Rex Lee.
Judge Alito's sole interest was to be the most
effective Appellate and Supreme Court advocate he could be on
behalf of the interests of the United States. To say he
was superb in that position is an understatement. his
briefs were thoughtful and his writing was powerful and
effective. He was a prodigious worker; typically, he was
in the office before I arrived and stayed until long after I had
gone home.
Judge Alito was an extraordinary resource both
to me and to the other lawyers. The SG's office is very
small; there are only about 20 Assistants and in those days, the
Court was hearing 160 cases and the office was participating in
about 120 of them. It was extremely hectic and it was
necessary for each of us to be able to rely upon the other
Assistants to bounce ideas off of and to get feedback about what
kinds of arguments in a brief or memorandum would be effective.
I spent many hours with Judge Alito in that process, in part,
because he was very generous with his time, but also because his
breadth of knowledge and keen intellect made him perfect for
those kinds of discussions. No matter what the case
involved or how complicated it was, he fully understood the
legal problem and provided meaningful feedback about how best to
approach it. He was a very special colleague and someone I
was proud to serve with and appreciated always.
I also had the privilege of watching Judge Alito
argue before the Supreme Court. As he has demonstrated
during these hearings, he is an oral advocate of unsurpassed
skill. I witnessed Judge Alito prepare and present the
argument in the FCC v. League of Women Voters case when
he was told on a Friday that he would be arguing this very
difficult First Amendment case the next week because another
lawyer in the office was suddenly unavailable to argue the case.
The Judge's presentation was masterful. There are very few
lawyers who could have done what he did, much less accomplish it
with grace and effectiveness.
I know that there has been some concern
expressed as to whether Judge Alito had some kind of ideological
agenda during his time in the Solicitor General's Office.
I spoke with him almost every day on dozens, if not hundreds, of
cases during the more than three years we worked together in
that office. I never once heard him make an argument that
reflected any particular political views. To the contrary,
Judge Alito's focus was solely on what arguments could be made
that would best promote the interests of his client, the federal
government. He was the consummate professional and someone
I admired greatly.
Indeed, as I look back on those years, I am
struck that out of all the lawyers who served with Judge Alito
and me, he was the one who was nominated to the federal bench.
He was so completely non-political that I would have guessed him
to be one of the least likely to be selected to be a judge and
now a Justice.
Since Judge Alito has been on the Third Circuit,
I have seen him during oral arguments, read a substantial number
of his opinions and appeared before him. Those experiences
merely confirm what I already knew. He is a remarkably
gifted, dedicated and fair person who has performed selflessly
and admirably as a public servant for more than 25 years.
If there were a category above "well qualified" in the American
Bar Association's ranking system, he would have deserved that
ranking. His opinions are clear, to the point and elegant.
His demeanor on the bench is ernest and respectful. His
questions reflect that he is well prepared and understands the
issues fully.
Given my personal experience with Judge Alito as
a professional and my experience in practicing before the
Supreme Court, which includes almost 50 oral arguments before
that Court, I am absolutely certain that Judge Alito will bring
honor to the Court and will distinguish himself as an
outstanding Justice. I urge the Committee and the full
Senate to vote to confirm Judge Alito to sit on the United
States Supreme Court as an Associate Justice. Mr.
Chairman, thank you for allowing me to appear.
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