US Senate panel to weigh Ashcroft's confirmation

US Senate panel to weigh Ashcroft's confirmation
REUTERS

JAN 16: After weeks of being hailed and denounced by friend and foe, John Ashcroft will speak for himself on Tuesday when the Senate Judiciary Committee opens confirmation hearings on President-elect George W Bush's nomination of him as the next US Attorney General.

The nationally televised proceedings may help set the stage for the first major test of Bush's promise to be a "uniter, not a divider."

Liberal and conservative groups are lined up for and against Ashcroft, a hero of the religious right. He is expected to be confirmed but only after a rough-and-tumble fight.

A key question certain to be asked of Ashcroft during the two or more days he will spend on the witness stand is, would he enforce the many Federal laws he has openly criticised?

In six years in the Senate, Ashcroft frequently opposed measures -- ranging from support for abortion rights to affirmative action and gun control -- that he would be responsible for upholding as the nation's top lawman.

The hearings were to begin at 1:30 pm EST (1830 GMT) with opening statements by each of the panel's 18 members -- nine Democrats and nine Republicans.

Ashcroft, 58, a former US Senator from Missouri who earlier served as the state's Attorney General and Governor, will then make his own opening statement and begin fielding what are certain to be scores of questions from Senators.

Bush has hailed Ashcroft as one of the most qualified US Attorney General nominees ever. He said he expected him to win the support of the American people as well as the Senate.

"He is a good man. He has a good heart, and when the people hear his record and see what he's done in public life, they'll find him to be an accomplished, good American, and I'm confident that he'll win the votes to be confirmed," Bush said.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report, "not moderate, not compassionate, not conservative," in which it portrayed Ashcroft as an extremist.

"John Ashcroft's policy positions ... reflect a fundamental opposition to long-standing interpretations of core constitutional principles," from separation of church and state to equal protection under the law, the ACLU wrote.

It said senators "must ask themselves if Ashcroft's policies will build on our nation's struggle for liberty or reverse our hard-won gains."

Also on Monday, Rep. William Clay, a Missouri Democrat, called on the Senate to reject Ashcroft, citing his opposition as Missouri Attorney General during the 1980s to court-ordered steps to eliminate school segregation in St. Louis and Kansas City.

"I have grave concerns that the Senator's demonstrated hostility toward the equal protections guaranteed under the 14th amendment ... suggests that he does not have the capacity to effectively pursue equal justice under the law," Clay wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, sent letters supporting Ashcroft on Monday to two members of the committee, Sens. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican.

"Senator Ashcroft is a man of tremendous experience and high integrity," Evers wrote. "The allegations of racism against him are not supported by facts. A look at Sen. Ashcroft's record as Governor of Missouri and as a United States Senator shows that he voted to confirm 23 of 26 African-American judicial appointments."

Evers also noted that Ashcroft signed legislation creating a state holiday for slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and worked to save historically black Lincoln University.

While Ashcroft has sought to assure Senators he would enforce all the nation's laws, doubts persist.

"It may be that his philosophical and ideological beliefs are so deep that even if he believes he is enforcing the law, he isn't," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.

Still, Ashcroft is expected to be confirmed by what will be a Republican-led Senate. The Senate is split 50-50 between the Republicans and Democrats, but Republican Vice President-elect Dick Cheney will cast tie-breaking votes after he is sworn in on Saturday.

Foes hope to put up a big enough fight to send a message to Bush, who will be inaugurated on Saturday as the nation's 43rd President, to expect such opposition any time he offers such a conservative nominee.