With 10 of President-elect Bush's 16 Cabinet nominees facing senators this week, Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft spoke out Monday against the practice of racial profiling by police on the eve of his confirmation hearing that is expected to focus sharply on his civil rights record.
"I certainly would like to find a way to be absent that kind of practice," Ashcroft said. "It's wrong, inappropriate. It shouldn't be done." He said Bush "is sensitive to this problem."
Ashcroft and Gale Norton, as Interior secretary, are meeting opposition not seen since the '91 Clarence Thomas hearings. Ashcroft appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee starting Tuesday and will face questions about racial profiling, judicial selections for the Supreme Court and other federal court seats; his unyielding anti-abortion stance; his opposition to confirming a black Missouri judge, Ronnie White, to the federal bench; his comments praising Southern war heroes; and allegations that he improperly used state government employees in his 1984 campaign for governor of Missouri.
Norton, a former Colorado attorney general, faces sharp questions on whether she would weaken environmental protections in her stewardship of public lands. She once suggested that government recognize property owners' "right to pollute" and that they be compensated for losses when forced to protect the environment. When she appears Thursday before the Energy and Natural Resources committee, Norton also may be questioned about the $270-per-hour fee for legal work on behalf of the Alaska Legislature, challenging the Interior Department's fishing regulations.
Others facing hearings this week include Colin L. Powell, the selection for secretary of state; Paul O'Neill, Treasury; Tommy Thompson, Health and Human Services; Spencer Abraham, Energy; Christie Whitman, Environmental Protection Agency; Ann Veneman, Agriculture; Mel Martinez, Housing and Urban Development and Anthony Prinicipi, Veterans Affairs.<
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