Pro-Family Leader Pleasantly Surprised by SJC Head's Job Performance
by Chad Groening
January 9, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Pennsylvania pro-family leader who opposed the appointment of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) says the moderate Republican has been a pleasant surprise on the job so far. Nevertheless, she still expects Specter to be tough on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito during the confirmation hearings that begin today. Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, supported Arlen Specter's conservative opponent during the Republican Senate primary. And after Specter was elected to a fifth term, she was among those who voiced serious concerns about him being named to head the SJC.
"We came out very strongly last November in opposition to Senator Specter getting the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee, something that he coveted," Gramley says. However, she admits, "Frankly, I'm surprised he's done as good a job as he has done. It hasn't been quite the disaster I envisioned."
Still, the pro-family spokeswoman says she expects the man appointed to head the Judiciary Committee will not go easy on George W. Bush's latest high court nominee during the confirmation process. "I know that Senator Specter has said that he's going to ask Judge Alito some tough questions on abortion and also concerning the situation with President Bush and the eavesdropping," she notes. "But he's also said he doesn't believe Judge Alito deserves the filibuster and that he should get fair hearings and an up-or-down vote, so that's good."
Gramley says she initially opposed Senator Specter's nomination to lead the Judiciary Committee because she feared what he might do with the president's nominees. Now that his fair-minded performance in that position has pleasantly surprised her, she says, "I'm just hoping that he will stick with that, as thus far he has, with the judicial nominees."
The head of the AFA of Pennsylvania suspects there is a reason for Specter's forbearance up to now. "I think he really got scared last November," she says, "because he thought he was not going to get that chairmanship. The first year under his belt, he's done pretty good. We'll see what the rest of his term shows."
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
