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Kennedy asks alita about aids in rhesus monkeys { January 11 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/politics/politicsspecial1/day3-text.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/politics/politicsspecial1/day3-text.html
January 11, 2006
Transcript
Senate Confirmation Hearings: Day 3
The following is a transcript from the hearing nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court, as provided by CQ Transcriptions Inc. SPEAKERS:
U.S. SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA) CHAIRMAN
U.S. SENATOR ORRIN G. HATCH (R-UT)
U.S. SENATOR CHARLES E. GRASSLEY (R-IA)
U.S. SENATOR JON KYL (R-AZ)
U.S. SENATOR MIKE DEWINE (R-OH)
U.S. SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL)
U.S. SENATOR LINDSEY O. GRAHAM (R-SC)
U.S. SENATOR JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)
U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS)
U.S. SENATOR TOM COBURN (R-OK)
U.S. SENATOR PATRICK J. LEAHY (D-VT) RANKING MEMBER
U.S. SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY (D-MA)
U.S. SENATOR JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. (D-DE)
U.S. SENATOR HERBERT KOHL (D-WI)
U.S. SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA)
U.S. SENATOR RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD (D-WI)
U.S. SENATOR CHARLES E. SCHUMER (D-NY)
U.S. SENATOR RICHARD J. DURBIN (D-IL)
WITNESSES:
JUDGE SAMUEL A. ALITO NOMINATED TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
EXCERPT:
KENNEDY: Well, could you think of any context that they could be...
ALITO: Hard to imagine. If that’s what anybody was endorsing, I disagree with all of that. I would never endorse it. I never have endorsed it. Had I thought that that’s what this organization stood for I would never associate myself with it in any way.
KENNEDY: The June ’84 edition of Prospect magazine contains a short article on AIDS. I know that we’ve come a long way since then in our understanding of the disease, but even for that time the insensitivity of statements in this article are breathtaking. It announces that a team of doctors has found the AIDS virus in the rhesus monkeys was similar to the virus occurring in human beings.
KENNEDY: And the article then goes on with this terrible statement: Now that the scientists must find humans, or rather homosexuals, to submit themselves to experimental treatment. Perhaps Princeton’s Gay Alliance may want to hold an election. You didn’t read that article?
ALITO: I feel confident that I didn’t, Senator, because I would not have anything to do with statements of that nature.
KENNEDY: In 1973, a year after you graduated, and during your first year at Yale Law School, former Senator Bill Bradley very publicly disassociated himself with CAP because of its right-wing views and unsupported allegations about the university. His letter of resignation was published in The Prospect; garnered much attention on campus and among the alumni. Were you aware of that at the time that you listed the organization in your application?
ALITO: I don’t think I was aware of that until recent weeks when I was informed of it.
KENNEDY: And in 1974, an alumni panel including now-Senator Frist unanimously concluded that CAP had presented a distorted, narrow, hostile view of the university. Were you aware of that at the time of the job application?
ALITO: I was not aware of that until very recently.
KENNEDY: In 1980, the New York Times article about the coeducation of Princeton, CAP is described as an organization against the admittance of women. In 1980, you were working as an assistant U.S. attorney in Trenton, New Jersey.
KENNEDY: Did you read the New York Times? Did you see this article?
ALITO: I don’t believe that I saw the article.
KENNEDY: And did you read a letter from CAP mailed in 1984 -- this is the year before you put CAP on your application -- to every living alumni -- to every living alumni, so I assume you received it -- which declared: Princeton is no longer the university you knew it to be. As evidence, among other reasons, it cited the fact that admission rates for African-Americans and Hispanics were on the rise, while those of alumni children were failing and Princeton’s president at a time urged that the then all-male eating clubs to admit females. And in December 1984, President William Bowen responded by sending his own letter. This is the president of Princeton responded by sending his own letter to all of the alumni in which he called CAP’s letter callous and outrageous. This letter was the subject of a January 1985 Wall Street Journal editorial congratulating President Bowen for engaging his critics in a free and open debate. This would be right about the time that you told Senator Kyl you probably joined the organization. Did you receive the Bowen letter or did you read the Wall Street Journal, which was pretty familiar reading for certainly a lot of people that were in the Reagan administration?
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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