Honorable Arlen Specter
United States Senator
Pennsylvania, RepublicanOn October 31, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate, fulfilling its constitutional duty to provide "advice and consent" on the nomination, held committee hearings and floor debate prior to a confirmation vote. Arlen Specter has served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held hearings on the Alito nomination, since January 2005. Specter is serving his fifth term in the Senate, having first been elected in 1980. Prior to joining the Senate, he was district attorney for the City of…
