Comments from senators

"The challenge for Judge Alito in the course of these hearings is to demonstrate that he will protect the rights and liberties of all Americans and serve as an effective check on government overreaching."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

"Groups are trying to defeat your nomination because you will not support their liberal agenda. And the reason they oppose you is precisely why I support you."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas

"While every Supreme Court nominee has a great burden, yours, Judge Alito, is triply high. First, because you have been named to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the pivotal swing vote on a divided court; second, because you have been picked to placate the extreme right wing after the hasty withdrawal of Harriet Miers; and, finally, because your record of opinions and statements on a number of critical Constitutional questions seems quite extreme."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

"I know that there is a pitched battle going on outside the Senate, with dueling press conferences, television ads, e-mail petition drives and stacks of reports and press releases. The Senate can rise above that battle. ... "

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah

"The Constitution provides for one democratic moment, Judge, before a lifetime of judicial independence, when the people of the United States are entitled to know as much as we can about the person that we're about to entrust with safeguarding our future and the future of our kids. ... "

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.

"I firmly believe that the court should take another direction on many of these moral issues that face us. If we're to honor the heritage of our country, whether it be in terms of religious freedom, whether it be in terms of truly protecting life, protecting not just the unborn but who comes next, the infirm, the elderly, the maimed, the disabled ... "

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.