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Pryor meets with Supreme Court nominee Saturday, Jul 30, 2005 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said he left a meeting with John Roberts on Friday impressed with the Supreme Court nominee, but he stopped short of committing his vote. Pryor's office was the latest stop for Roberts, who has visited about 40 senators so far in preparation for hearings on his nomination to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. "I told him at the conclusion of the meeting that I was very impressed with him," Pryor said. "I told him that I was going to hold my decision on his nomination until he goes through the (confirmation) process." The hour-long meeting was held in Pryor's Capitol Hill office and included former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., who is shepherding Roberts around the Hill, and a White House staffer. "We talked a lot about his legal experience, some of his favorite cases, some of the interesting things that he's done in his law practice and his family," Pryor said. The discussion centered on his background and not his legal views, Pryor said. He described the nominee as calm, bright, knowledgeable about the law, with very good credentials. "I do not see any red flags with him personally," he said. "He seemed to be a person that is very, very smart and very devoted to the law." Pryor said he was not prepared to say how he would vote. "So far, so good," he said. "He's very impressive." Pryor is a member of the Gang of 14, seven Republican and seven Democratic senators who agreed in May to vote for Bush judicial nominees except under "extraordinary circumstances." The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin considering Roberts when Congress returns from its August recess. Pryor said he expected the full Senate to vote on Roberts in mid-September, before the Supreme Court returns in October. -- 30 -- |
