Roberts gets committee endorsement

Supportive Democrats assure confirmation

WASHINGTON • The Senate Judiciary Committee strongly endorsed Judge John Roberts yesterday to be the next chief justice of the United States, sending the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation next week.

The 13-to-5 vote, with three Democrats joining the 10 Republicans on the committee, put Judge Roberts in line to succeed the man for whom he was once a clerk, William Rehnquist, who died this month. Judge Roberts is only 50, so he could be chief justice for many years.

Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who heads the committee, said Judge Roberts “has a real sense for building consensus,” a gift that will serve him well as he takes his place on a court that has often been sharply split.

Committee Republicans heaped praise on the nominee, for his undisputed intellectual acumen and what they see as the proper role of a jurist.

“He emphasizes the importance of modesty and humility in the role of a justice,” Senator Charles Grassley said.

The Democrats who backed Judge Roberts were generally more restrained.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking minority member on the panel, said despite his vote in favour of the nominee he was very disappointed in him for not being more forthcoming, and with the White House for not consulting more with the Senate.

Another Democrat who voted yes, Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, said he had been persuaded because of the nominee’s “sterling reputation as a lawyer and a judge” and was therefore voting with “my hopes, not my fears.” Senator Russell Feingold, a Democrat also from Wisconsin, said he was voting yes because he considered the nominee “a lawyer’s lawyer,” not an ideologue.

Judge Roberts has “a record that few could top,” Mr. Feingold said. But the Senator said he still differed with some of the judge’s views, and that the judge was not as frank with the committee as he should have been.

Voting against Judge Roberts were senators Dianne Feinstein of California, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Joseph Biden of Delaware, Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Durbin of Illinois.

Ms. Feinstein, who supports abortion rights, said the nominee had not provided enough information on how he feels about important issues. “ I cannot in good conscious cast a yea vote,” she said.

Mr. Kennedy said Judge Roberts had displayed “a cramped, narrow view” of civil rights law and had declined repeated opportunities to clarify his views on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which Mr. Kennedy said the Reagan White House tried to weaken when the nominee was a young lawyer in the administration.

Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona, sharply disagreed with Mr. Kennedy and said any objective look at the transcripts of the hearing would show how wrong Mr. Kennedy was. The judge “richly deserves” confirmation, Mr. Kyl said.

Republicans on and off the Judiciary Committee have been unanimous in calling the nominee a brilliant jurist. Because there are 55 Republicans in the Senate, and several Democrats not on the Judiciary Committee have either said they will vote for Judge Roberts or are leaning that way, confirmation is assured.

Judge Roberts, who now sits on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will sit as chief justice when the Supreme Court reconvenes in early October.

The New York Times