Arlen_Specter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arlen Specter Arlen Specter Arlen Specter Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007 Preceded by Succeeded by Born Orrin Hatch Patrick Leahy February 12, 1930 (1930-02-12) Wichita, Kansas Democratic (1951-1965[1], 2009-present) Republican (1966–2009) Joan Specter Philadelphia, Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania (B.S.) Yale Law School (J.D.) Attorney Appropriations, Judiciary, Veterans’ Affairs, Special Committee on Aging Judaism United States Senator Arlen Specter Political party United States Senator from Pennsylvania Incumbent Assumed office January 5, 1981 Serving with Bob Casey, Jr. Preceded by Richard Schweiker Spouse Residence Alma mater Occupation Committees Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997 Preceded by Succeeded by Dennis DeConcini Richard Shelby Religion Website Military service Service/ branch Years of service Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 Preceded by Succeeded by Alan K. Simpson Jay Rockefeller United States Air Force 1951–1953 In office January 20 – June 6, 2001 Preceded by Succeeded by Jay Rockefeller Jay Rockefeller In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005 Preceded by Succeeded by Jay Rockefeller Larry Craig Arlen Specter (born February 12, 1930) is an American lawyer and politician. He is the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter was a member of the Democratic Party before enlisting as a Republican to challenge the Philadelphia Democratic official during a 1965 campaign for district attorney.[2] Elected in 1980 for senator, he is currently the fifth oldest senator. Previously a centrist, Specter is again a member of the Democratic Party. Senator Specter was believed to be a moderate,[3] with earlier conservative views on crime and national 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia security, and voting to confirm John Roberts and Samuel Alito during President George W. Bush’s second term; likewise, he holds liberal views on abortion rights, gun control, immigration, and the environment. In April 2006, he was selected by Time as one of America’s Ten Best Senators.[4] A Democrat in his youth, Specter became a Republican in 1966. On April 28, 2009, Specter announced that he was returning to the Democratic Party,[5][6] citing that he was increasingly "at odds with the (current) Republican philosophy[7][8] and indicated that polling showed that it would be difficult for him to win the 2010 Republican senatorial primary against Pat Toomey,"[7] and defended Speaker Nancy Pelosi for calling CIA officials liars. In one area of difference of political philosophy for the Senator, Specter voted in favor of the Wall Street bailout.[9] In 2005 and in 2008, Arlen Specter has been treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.[10] Arlen Specter District Attorney James Crumlish, and was a Democrat. At the recommendation of Representative Gerald R. Ford, he worked for the Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy. As an assistant counsel for the commission, he authored or co-authored[13] the controversial "single bullet theory," which suggested the wounds to Kennedy and non-fatal wounds to Texas Governor John Connally were caused by the same bullet. This was a crucial assertion for the Warren Commission, since if the two had been wounded by separate bullets, that would have demonstrated the presence of a second assassin and therefore a conspiracy.[14] Early years Specter was born in Wichita, Kansas, the youngest child of Lillie Shanin and Harry Specter, who had emigrated from Russia in 1911.[11] He was raised in the Jewish faith in Russell, Kansas, also the hometown of fellow politician Bob Dole. Specter’s father served in the U.S. infantry during World War I, and was badly wounded. During the Great Depression, Specter’s father was a fruit peddler, a tailor and junkyard owner. Specter studied first at the University of Oklahoma. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, majored in International Relations, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1951. During the Korean War, he served stateside in United States Air Force as an officer within the Air Force Office of Special Investigations from 1951 to 1953[12]. Specter graduated from Yale Law School in 1956 and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar. He is married to the former Joan Levy, and they reside in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. They have two sons, Shanin and Stephen, and four grandchildren, Silvi, Perri, Lilli, and Hatti. After graduating from Yale Law School, Specter opened a law practice, Specter & Katz, with Marvin Katz, who is now a Federal District Court Judge in Philadelphia. Specter became an assistant district attorney under Specter reproducing the assumed alignment of the single bullet theory In 1965, Specter ran for District Attorney, on the Republican ticket as a registered Democrat. He handily beat incumbent Jim Crumlish, and subsequently changed his registration to Republican. Although a supporter of capital punishment, as prosecutor he questioned the fairness of the Pennsylvania death penalty statute in 1972.[15] In 1967, he was the Republican Party standard bearer together with City Controller candidate, Tom Gola, in the mayoral campaign against the Democratic incumbent James H. J. Tate. One of their slogans was, "We need THESE guys to watch THOSE guys."[16] He served two terms as District Attorney for the City of Philadelphia. In 1976, Specter ran in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and was defeated by John Heinz. In 1978, he was defeated in the primary for Governor of Pennsylvania by Dick Thornburgh.[17] After several years of private practice with the prestigious Philadelphia law firm Dechert, Price & Rhoads, 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Specter ran for the Senate in 1980, this time, successfully. He assumed office in January 1981. Arlen Specter rating among Democrats in Pennsylvania than Republicans, 62–55 respectively.[20] His opposition to Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork in 1987 is seen as an important factor in the nomination’s failure. However, he raised the ire of many Democrats with his aggressive questioning of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991, claiming she had committed "flat-out perjury" in her testimony. In 1998 and 1999, Specter criticized his own party for its impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Believing that Clinton had not received a fair trial, Specter famously cited Scots law to render a verdict of "not proven" on Clinton’s impeachment. However, his verdict was recorded as "not guilty" in the Senate records. Soon after the 2004 election, Specter stepped into the public spotlight as a result of controversial statements about his views of the future of the Supreme Court. At a press conference, he stated that: “ When you talk about judges who ” would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v. Wade, I think [confirmation] is unlikely. The president is well aware of what happened, when a number of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster. ... And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning. Hodgkin’s disease On February 16, 2005, Specter announced that he had been diagnosed with an advanced form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer. Despite this, Specter continued working during chemotherapy. He ended treatment on July 22. Senator John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) shaved his head to show solidarity with Specter when he was undergoing chemotherapy and was temporarily bald. On April 15, 2008, he announced his cancer had returned, at a stage "significantly less advanced than his Hodgkin’s disease when it was originally diagnosed in 2005."[10][18] He underwent a second round of chemotherapy, which ended on July 14, 2008.[19] Senate career Senator Specter’s official portrait Specter was first elected to the Senate in 1980. He is the longest-serving Senator in Pennsylvania’s history; no one else from the state has been elected to five terms in that body. According to polls by Quinnipiac University, Specter has a higher approval Activist groups interpreted his comments as warnings to President George W. Bush about the implications of nominating Supreme Court justices who are opposed to the Roe v. Wade decision. Specter maintained his comments were a prediction, not a warning. He met with many conservative Republican senators, and based on assurances he gave them, he was recommended for the Judiciary Committee’s chairmanship in late 2004. He officially assumed that position when the 109th Congress convened on January 4, 2005. On March 9, 2006, the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law. It amended the process for interim appointments of U.S. Attorneys, a clause which Specter wrote during his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.[21] The change allowed the Bush Administration to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without term limits, and without confirmation by the Senate. The Bush administration used 3 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the law to place at least eight interim attorneys into office in 2006. Specter claims that the changes were added by staff member Brett Tolman.[22] For more information, see dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy. Arlen Specter what I already knew about the issue." Specter would release a follow up statement: “ My strong preference is for the NFL ” to activate a Mitchell-type investigation, I have been careful not to call for a Congressional hearing because I believe the NFL should step forward and embrace an independent inquiry and Congress is extraordinarily busy on other matters If the NFL continues to leave a vacuum, Congress may be tempted to fill it.[25] Specter while he was being interviewed by Margot Adler for an episode of Justice Talking on Presidential Signing statements Specter was very critical of Bush’s wiretapping of US citizens without warrants. When the story first broke, he called the effort "inappropriate" and "clearly and categorically wrong." He said, he intended to hold hearings into the matter early in 2006, and had Alberto Gonzales appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer for the program (although Specter declined to force Gonzales to testify under oath). On January 15, 2006, Specter mentioned impeachment and criminal prosecution as potential remedies if Bush broke the law, though he downplayed the likelihood of such an outcome. On April 9, 2006, Specter, speaking on Fox News about the Bush administration’s leaking of classified intelligence, said that "The president of the United States owes a specific explanation to the American people"[23] However, he voted for the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which placed federal electronic searches almost entirely within the executive branch.[24] During the 2007–2008 National Football League season, Specter wrote to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell concerning the destruction of New England Patriots Spygate tapes, wondering if there was a link between the tapes and their Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. On February 1, 2008, Roger Goodell stated that the tapes were destroyed because "they confirmed Since 2007 Specter has sponsored legislation[26] to fix a longstanding inequity in American law which shuts out a majority of U.S. Armed Forces service members from equal access to the U.S. Supreme Court.[27] In 2007 Specter cosponsored the Equal Justice for United States Military Personnel Act of 2007 with Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.).[26] The bill failed in the 110th Congress, and Specter again cosponsored the measure in the 2009 111th Congress.[28] Specter voted in favor of the Senate’s version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 10, 2009; he was one of only three Republicans to break ranks with the party and support the bill, which was favored by President Barack Obama and was unanimously supported by the Democratic senators.[29] As a result of his support, many in the Republican mainstream have begun to set up attack ads calling for his removal from office.[30] Specter was instrumental in ensuring that the act allocated an additional $10 billion to the National Institutes of Health over the next two years.[31] Since becoming a Democrat in the Senate, Specter has been denied seniority on Senate committees.[32] Committee assignments As a Democrat, Specter holds the following committee assignments:[33] • • • • • Specter was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1995, when the Republicans gained control of the Senate, until 1997, when he became chairman of the 4 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Committee on Veterans Affairs. He chaired that committee until 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005, during the times the Republicans controlled the Senate. He also chaired the Judiciary Committee from 2005 to 2007. Arlen Specter captive to the demands of the intolerant right that we end up re-electing a President of the incompetent left. His campaign focused on balancing the federal budget, strict crime laws, and establishing relations with North Korea. Specter said: “ My commitment to America, is to replace a President who has been inattentive, inactive and indecisive when it comes to America’s vital foreign policy interests. ” Campaigns Arlen Specter campaigning for re-election In 1980, Specter became the Republican nominee for Senate when Republican incumbent Richard Schweiker announced his retirement. He faced the former Mayor of Pittsburgh, Peter F. Flaherty. Specter won the election by a 2.5% margin. He was later reelected in 1986, 1992, 1998 and 2004, despite 1992 and 1998 being bad years for Republicans. Specter will run for reelection in 2010, for the first time as a Democrat.[34] His candidacy was not expected to succeed in winning the Republican nomination due to the overwhelmingly large number of social conservatives in the Republican Party. He was, however, able to gain support. Although fellow Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was never overly enthusiastic, he was supportive. Other supportive Republicans were hopeful Specter could trim the party’s "farright fringe." Although his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful at wooing conservatives, it was widely believed he could have had a strong showing among independents. On November 23, 1995, before the start of the primaries, Specter suspended his campaign to endorse Kansas Senator Bob Dole. 2004 re-election campaign In 2004, Specter faced a challenge in the Republican primary election from conservative Congressman Pat Toomey, whose campaign theme was that Specter was not fiscally conservative enough. The match-up was closely watched nationally, being seen as a symbolic clash between the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party. However, most of the state and national Republican establishment, including the state’s other senator at the time, Rick Santorum closed ranks behind Specter. Specter was strongly supported by President George W. Bush. Specter narrowly avoided a major upset with 51 percent of the primary vote. Once Specter defeated the challenge from the right, he was able to enjoy great support from independents and some Democrats in his race against Hoeffel.[35] Hoeffel also trailed Specter in name recognition, campaign funds and poll results. [36] Although the two minor candidates were seen as more conservative than Specter, they were only able to take four percent of the vote and Specter was easily reelected. 1996 bid for the Presidency On March 31, 1995, Specter announced his candidacy for President of the United States, to challenge the incumbent Bill Clinton. He entered the race claiming his party needed a candidate who did not conform to the stereotypical religious conservative image. He was critical of Patrick J. Buchanan, Pat Robertson and Ralph E. Reed, Jr., saying all three were far too conservative. “ Neither this nation nor this party can ” afford a Republican candidate so 5 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arlen Specter trigger locks for handguns.[47] His work has included numerous articles on the deterring effect the death penalty has on future crimes. He supports affirmative action and voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1991. He was one of only four Republicans to vote against the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and in recent years has been less enthusiastic about weakening consumer protection laws than many members of his party. In 1995 he was the only Republican to vote to limit tax cuts to individuals with incomes of less than one million dollars. He voted against CAFTA. Specter also supports an increase in the federal minimum wage. He is a leading supporter of the U.S. Public Service Academy. On the immigration issue, Specter supports a "pathway to citizenship" and a "guest worker program" which opponents call amnesty. He introduced Senate bill S. 2611 (the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006) on 6 April 2006, which was passed by the Senate on May 25, 2006 before reaching a stalemate in the House.[48] Specter has received a 61 percent rating from AFL-CIO.[49] He voted for cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act in 2007. The vote failed to reach the 60-vote threshold that would have ended debate on the bill and allow it to pass. In 2009, Specter announced that he would not be voting for cloture on the Act in the 111th Congress.[50] Specter supports LGBT rights with mixed positions. He voted to prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation, but voted against including sexual orientation in the definition of hate crimes. Specter is opposed to same-sex marriage, but is also opposed to a federal ban and supports civil unions.[51] 2010 re-election campaign Specter is up for re-election to the Senate in 2010, and he has expressed his plans to run again. On March 18, 2009, Specter said that he was not considering running as an independent. He said, "To eliminate any doubt, I am a Republican, and I am running for reelection in 2010 as a Republican on the Republican ticket." [37] Subsequently Specter’s 2004 conservative GOP primary challenger, Pat Toomey, announced he will again run for the Republican nomination in the Republican senatorial primary.[38] However, on April 28, 2009, Specter stated that "As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right, I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party."[7] He said that he is switching party affiliation and will run as a Democrat in the 2010 election.[6][7][39] In the same announcement, Specter also said that he had "surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls, observed other public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak."[7] A March 2009 Quinnipiac poll indicated that Specter trailed his likely primary challenger, Pat Toomey, by 14 percent (41 percent for Toomey 27 percent for Specter).[40] Additional polling found that 70 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans disapproved of his recent vote in favor of the Stimulus Bill[41] and that 52 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans disapprove of the job he is doing.[40] Following Specter’s switching parties, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele criticized his leaving the Republican Party, claiming that Specter had "flipped the bird" at the GOP.[42] Electoral history References [1] "Upset in Philadelphia" (PDF), The New York Times, 1965-11-02, http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/ flash/politics/20090414_SPECTER/ 1965Elected.pdf, retrieved on 2009-04-28. [2] "Senator Specter bolts GOP", boston.com, April 29, 2009, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ washington/articles/2009/04/29/ senator_specter_bolts_gop/?page=2. Political views Specter states that he is "personally opposed to abortion", but is "a supporter of a woman’s right to choose".[43][44] He received a 20 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2005 based on certain votes related to the regulation of abortion; in 2008, he received 100 percent [45][46] Specter strongly supports the death penalty and opposes most gun control, voting against the Brady Bill, background checks at gun shows, the ban on assault weapons, and 6 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arlen Specter [3] Krawczeniuk, Borys (April 28, 2009), Eisenberg.’ Specter did not respond to "Specter is a marked ’moderate’", The Bugliosi’s request for a clarification on Daily Review, the issue." http://www.thedailyreview.com/articles/ [14] Bugliosi, p.456. 2009/02/09/news/ [15] "Death Rattles", TIME magazine, tw_review.20090209.a.pg3.tw09specter_s1.2290943_loc.txt. November 20, 1972, [4] "Arlen Specter: The Contrarian", TIME http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ magazine, April 14, 2006, article/0,9171,712208,00.html. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/ [16] Dionne, E.J. (May 24, 2005), ""Watch 0,8599,1183946,00.html. Those Guys"", The Washington Post, [5] "Statement by Senator Arlen Specter", http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ Specter 2010 Election website, Citizens content/article/2005/05/23/ for Arlen Specter, April 28, 2009, AR2005052301337_pf.html, retrieved on http://www.specter2010.com/ 2007-07-16. news6.html, retrieved on April 28, 2009. [17] Samuel, Terence (September 4, 2005), [6] ^ Cillizza, Chris (April 28, 2009), "Irritating Them All", US News and "Specter to switch parties", The World Report, http://www.usnews.com/ Washington Post, usnews/news/articles/050912/ http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/ 12specter_2.htm, retrieved on 2009/04/28/ 2007-07-16. specter_to_switch_parties.html?wprss=44, [18] "Arlen Specter’s Hodgkin’s disease retrieved on 2009-04-28. returns", CNN, April 15, 2008, [7] ^ "Longtime GOP Sen. Arlen Specter http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/ becomes Democrat", CNN, April 28, 15/arlen.specter/index.html, retrieved on 2009, http://www.cnn.com/2009/ 2009-04-29. POLITICS/04/28/specter.party.switch/ [19] "Specter finishes chemotherapy", index.html, retrieved on 2009-04-28. 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[9] "Specter Talks Bailout", [20] Coomes, Jessica (February 11, 2009), specter.senate.gov, October 8, 2008, "Poll: Voters don’t want to give Arlen http://specter.senate.gov/public/ Specter another term", index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.Articles&ContentRecord_id=e2e17198-998a-21df-7259-f69bcda0c lehighvalleylive.com, The Express-Times, [10] ^ "Specter Announces Cancer http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/jessicaRecurrence", The New York Times, coomes/index.ssf/2009/02/ Associated Press, April 16, 2008, poll_voters_dont_want_to_give.html, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/ retrieved on 2009-04-29. fullpage.html?res=9B00EED8113FF935A25757C0A96E9C8B63, (March 5, 2007), [21] Lithwick, Dahlia retrieved on 2009-04-28. 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"Warren Commission 002487.php, retrieved on 2009-04-30. staff lawyer Norman Redlich was asked [23] Jackson, David (April 10, 2006), "Specter by author Vincent Bugliosi in 2005 urges Bush, Cheney to explain CIA leak", whether Specter was the sole author of USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/ the single bullet theory and he said, ’No, news/washington/2006-04-09-specterwe all came to this conclusion cia_x.htm, retrieved on 2007-07-16. simultaneously.’ When asked who he [24] "U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes: Bill H.R. meant by ’we,’ he said, ’Arlen, myself, 6304", United States Senate website, Howard Willens, David Belin, and Mel July 9, 2008, http://www.senate.gov/ 7 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arlen Specter legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07079/ roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00168, retrieved on 770871-178.stm, retrieved on 2009-04-30. 2009-04-30. [25] Maske, Mark (June 6, 2008), "Specter [35] Sabato, Larry J. (October 22, 2004), Repeats Call for NFL to Hire Outside "Republican Specter defends his seat Investigator", The Washington Post, against Joe Hoeffel", Crystal Ball, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ University of Virginia, nflinsider/2008/06/ http://www.centerforpolitics.org/ specter_repeats_call_for_nfl_t.html, crystalball/ retrieved on 2009-04-29. article.php?id=SPA2004102201, [26] ^ Equal Justice for United States retrieved on 2009-04-30. Military Personnel Act of 2007, S.2052 [36] Samad, Farouk (September 27, 2004), introduced in 110th Congress-Senate "Hoeffel trails Specter by large margin in (September 17, 2007) Senate race", The Daily Pennsylvanian, [27] American Bar Association (August 7-8, http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/ 2006), "Resolution 116" (PDF), media/storage/paper882/news/2004/09/ http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/policy/ 27/News/ am06116.pdf, retrieved on 2009-04-30. Hoeffel.Trails.Specter.By.Large.Margin.In.Senate.Ra [28] "S. 357: Equal Justice for United States retrieved on 2009-04-30. Military Personnel Act of 2009", Thomas [37] Fitzgerald, Thomas (March 19, 2009), website, Library of Congress, January 30, "Specter staying on Republican ticket", 2009, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ The Philadelphia Inquirer, query/z?c111:S.357:, retrieved on http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/ 2009-04-30. 20090319_Specter_staying_on_Republican_ticket.htm [29] Schatz, Joseph J. (February 10, 2009), retrieved on 2009-04-28. "Senate Passes Stimulus, Setting Up [38] Turner, Trish (April 15, 2009), "Specter Tough Conference With House", faces conservative challenge from CQPolitics, Congressional Quarterly, familiar foe", Fox News, http://www.cqpolitics.com/ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/ wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000003028597, 04/15/specter-faces-conservativeretrieved on 2009-04-30. challenge-familiar-foe/, retrieved on [30] Smith, Ben (February 14th, 2009), "Ads 2009-04-28. target 3 Republicans, Lincoln", [39] Hulse, Carl (April 28, 2009), "Specter Politico.com, http://www.politico.com/ switches parties", The New York Times, blogs/bensmith/0209/ http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/ Ads_target_3_Republicans_Lincoln.html, 2009/04/28/specter-will-run-as-aretrieved on 2009-04-30. democrat-in-2010/, retrieved on [31] Harris, Gardiner (February 13, 2009), 2009-04-28. "Specter, a Fulcrum of the Stimulus Bill, [40] ^ "Little-Known GOP Challenger Tops Pulls Off a Coup for Health Money", The Specter In Primary, Quinnipiac New York Times, University Pennsylvania Poll Finds; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/ Support For Obama Plan Helps Among health/policy/14specter.html, retrieved Democrats", Quinnipiac University, on 2009-04-30. March 25, 2009, [32] Kane, Paul (May 5, 2009), "Senate http://www.quinnipiac.edu/ Democrats Deny Specter Committee x1284.xml?ReleaseID=1280&What=&strArea=5;10; Seniority", The Washington Post, retrieved on 2009-04-29. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol[41] Fitzgerald, Thomas (March 26, 2009), briefing/2009/05/ "Two polls show challenges for Specter", senate_democrats_deny_specter.html?hpid=topnews,Philadelphia Inquirer, The retrieved on May 8, 2009. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/ [33] 2009 Congressional Record, Vol. 20090326_Two_polls_show_challenges_for_Specter.h 155, Page S5168 retrieved on 2009-04-29. [34] Sherman, Jerome L. (March 20, 2007), [42] http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/ "Specter says he’ll run in 2010 at age of 2009/04/29/1913755.aspx 80", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arlen Specter [43] "Senator Arlen Specter: Key Issues", U.S. Senate website, • Party switching in the United States http://specter.senate.gov/public/ index.cfm?FuseAction=IssueStatements.View&Issue_id=bd531be8-7e9c-9af9-74efd3a53537ede0, retrieved on 2009-04-28. [44] "Specter: I’m pro-choice… But I don’t • Official Senate site for Arlen Specter make the decisions", November 9, 2004, • Campaign site http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/ • US Senate Committee on the Judiciary 11/08/judy.specter/index.html, retrieved • Biography at the Biographical Directory of on 2009-04-30. the United States Congress [45] "Arlen Specter", NARAL Pro-Choice • Voting record maintained by The America, Washington Post http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice• Campaign finance reports and data at the action-center/us-gov/congressionalFederal Election Commission record-on-choice/arlenspecter.html, • Campaign contributions at retrieved on 2009-04-30. OpenSecrets.org [46] "Pennsylvania Senators 2008", NARAL • Biography, voting record, and interest Pro-Choice America, group ratings at Project Vote Smart http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice• Issue positions and quotes at On The action-center/us-gov/congressionalIssues record-on-choice/pennsylvania.html, Articles retrieved on 2009-04-30. • New York Times — Arlen Specter News [47] Delano, Jon, "Specter Says No To collected news and commentary Automatic Weapons Ban", KDKA-TV • "Tale of injustice", Sarasota Herald website (CBS), http://kdka.com/local/ Tribune, July 16, 2007, Specter.gun.control.2.987870.html, http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/ retrieved on 2009-04-28. 20070716/OPINION/707160422/1030, [48] "S.2611, A bill to provide for retrieved on 2007-07-16. comprehensive immigration reform and • "Milestones: Arlen Specter", New York for other purposes", Thomas, Library of Times, April 15, 2009, Congress, May 25, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/ 04/15/us/politics/ z?d109:SN02611:@@@L&summ2=m&, 20090416_SPECTER_TIMELINE.html. retrieved on 2009-04-30. (Interactive timeline with access to [49] "Sen Arlen Specter", AFL-CIO website, articles from the 1960s through 2009) http://www.aflcio.org/cgi-bin/ • The Magic Bullet; Even More Magical member.pl?state=PA&pg=2&id=76&year=07&congress=s, Than We Knew, Gary Aguilar and Josiah retrieved on 2009-04-30. Thompson, History Matters [50] Schor, Elana (March 24, 2009), "Specter: • After Yale, Specter Still a Force, Andrew I’ll Vote No on Employee Free Choice Mangino, Yale Daily News, September 23, Act", Talking Points Memo, 2005 http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/ • Interview with Arlen Specter 2009/03/specter-ill-vote-no-on-employee• The Need to Roll Back Presidential Power free-choice-act.php, retrieved on Grabs, by Arlen Specter, The New York 2009-04-30. Review of Books, Volume 56, Number 8 · [51] "Arlen Specter on the Issues", On the May 14, 2009 Issues, http://www.ontheissues.org/ • Specter: Reagan’s GOP is Gone by Mark Senate/Arlen_Specter.htm, retrieved on Trumbull, The Christian Science Monitor, 2009-04-30. May 3, 2009 • Bugliosi, Vincent (2007). Reclaiming Legislation sponsored or cosponsored History: The Assassination of President The following table links to the Congressional John F. Kennedy. New York: W.W. Norton Record hosted by the Library of Congress. All & Company. the specifics and actions taken for each individual piece of legislation that Senator Specter either sponsored or cosponsored can See also External links 9 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia United States Senate Preceded by Richard Schweiker United States Senator (Class 3) from Pennsylvania 1981 – present Served alongside: H. John Heinz III, Harris Wofford, Rick Santorum, Bob Casey, Jr. Arlen Specter Incumbent Political offices Preceded by Dennis DeConcini Arizona Preceded by Alan K. Simpson Wyoming Preceded by Jay Rockefeller West Virginia Preceded by Orrin Hatch Utah Party political offices Preceded by Richard Schweiker Republican nominee from United Succeeded by TBD States Senator (Class 3) from Pennsylvania 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004 United States Senators by seniority 12th SHORT DESCRIPTION DATE OF BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH DATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH Succeeded by Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee 1995 – 1997 Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee 1997 – 2001 Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee 2003 – 2005 Succeeded by Richard Shelby Alabama Succeeded by Jay Rockefeller West Virginia Succeeded by Larry Craig Idaho Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Succeeded by Patrick Leahy Committee 2005 – 2007 Vermont Order of precedence in the United States of America Preceded by Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) be viewed in detail there. "Original bills" and "’Original amendments" indicate instances where Sen. Specter pledged to support the legislation at the time it was initially introduced and entered into the Senate record, rather than later in the legislative process. Persondata NAME ALTERNATIVE NAMES Specter, Arlen J. United States Senator from Pennsylvania February 12, 1930 Wichita, Kansas Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Specter" Categories: 1930 births, American Jews, Democratic Party (United States) politicians, Dismissal of United States Attorneys controversy, District attorneys, Jewish Americans in the military, Jewish United States Senators, Living people, Pennsylvania Democrats, Pennsylvania lawyers, Pennsylvania Republicans, People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, People from Wichita, Kansas, Russian-American Jews, United States Air Force officers, University of Pennsylvania alumni, United States presidential candidates, 1996, United States Senators from Pennsylvania, Warren Commission, Yale Law School alumni, American military personnel of the Korean War 10 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arlen Specter This page was last modified on 23 May 2009, at 04:43 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. 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