Rejected

Sen. Kennedy requested from Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Specter get information from the Library of Congress on Judge Alito. But Sen. Specter rejected Sen. Kennedy's request on the grounds that it was the first time that he had heard about it and wanted more prior notice. But Sen. Specter HAD KNOWN ABOUT IT. On December 22nd, Sen. Kennedy sent a letter (below) to Sen. Specter asking him to get the information by issuing a subpoena. According to a AP article published on December 23rd, "Sen. Edward Kennedy is pressing for documents on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's involvement with a conservative group that argued Princeton University lowered its admission standards to accept women and minorities.

In a letter on Thursday, Kennedy, D-Mass., asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to make a formal request for files in the private papers of a founder and leader of Concerned Alumni of Princeton."

The letter that Sen. Kennedy sent is below, as posted on his website: (this has been edited for length, for the complete letter please refer to Sen. Kennedy's website)

December 22, 2005

The Honorable Arlen Specter United States Senate Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

As you know, when Judge Samuel Alito applied for his job in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Meese Justice Department in November 1985, he submitted a list of his memberships and other activities to impress Attorney General Meese.
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Among the organizations he listed was "Concerned Alumni of Princeton" (CAP), an organization created in 1972, the year Judge Alito graduated. The organization was described in the press at the time and in its own literature as opposed to the increasing number of women, African Americans and Hispanics at the university. The organization also published articles critical of the rights of the disabled.
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It appears from recent press interviews that Judge Alito became involved with CAP through one of CAP's founders early in CAP's history. In spite of the prominence he gave to CAP in his 1985 application to the Justice Department and its well-known and controversial activities, Judge Alito's participation in CAP was not disclosed in the public documents relating to his 1987 nomination as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey or his 1990 nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
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In view of CAP's troubling opposition to equal educational opportunity for women, minorities, and the disabled, it is important for the Committee to learn more about Judge Alito's involvement in this organization.
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Judge Alito's assertion that he cannot recall anything about his controversial involvement in CAP, requires us to find other ways of fulfilling our constitutional responsibility to get at the facts. The Rusher papers provide a readily available means of doing so. Certainly we do not want to leave the Committee, the Senate, and the nation open to an unwelcome surprise when the papers eventually become public after Mr. Rusher's death.

As always, we thank you for your cooperation and leadership, and your commitment to making the confirmation process as thorough as possible.

Sincerely,

Edward M. Kennedy

(Update: Sen. Kennedy's website link titled "his website" link is broken)