Senate Judiciary Committee U S

As hearings on his nomination to head the nation's drug war began, former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez drew sharp criticism Tuesday from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee for his handling of drug law enforcement and treatment in his home state. Martinez sidestepped some policy questions and, citing lack of information, would not answer others.

Atty. Gen.-designate William P. Barr, praised by Democrats for "refreshing" candor and honesty, won unanimous approval Friday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is now likely to be confirmed by the full Senate before its Thanksgiving recess. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the committee chairman, hailed Barr as "a throwback to the days when we actually had attorneys general who would talk to you." Barr would succeed former Atty. Gen.

The Senate has been deluged with telephone calls during the Clarence Thomas hearings, with the Supreme Court nominee receiving overwhelming support in some offices but lopsided opposition in others. "Not only is the volume heavy but I can't remember such a diversity of comments," an aide to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said Saturday as testimony continued on sexual harassment charges made by law professor Anita Faye Hill.

Here are excerpts from comments made by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) during testimony Saturday by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas: I didn't sign onto this job or run for it to be a judge. If I wanted to do that, I'd be a judge now in my home state. I don't want to be a judge. I hate this job.

Anita Faye Hill said Friday that she is "shocked and angry" at the way she was assailed during the recent congressional hearings but that she has "no regrets" about publicly leveling sexual harassment charges against new Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. "I'm glad I did it. I have no regrets," Hill said.

Following is an exchange between Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) at the opening of Friday's committee hearing: Biden: Prof. Hill, as recently as late last night, continues to ask us to maintain the confidentiality of her statement to the committee. So Judge Thomas, at this stage of the hearings without having heard Prof. Hill's testimony and without using her statement, our questioning to you may not be complete. . . . Hatch: Mr. Chairman?

ABC, CBS and NBC plan a second day of live coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the sexual harassment accusations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, but sporting events on all three networks today may impact the length of coverage. CNN, C-SPAN, KCET and KCRW-FM (89.9) will have live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearings, which begin at 7 a.m. C-SPAN also plans a replay of the hearings at 5 p.m. or at their conclusion.

Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del. "Achieving fairness, in the atmosphere in which these hearings are being held, may be the most difficult task . . . I have ever undertaken in my close to 19 years in the United States Senate." Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. "This will be an exceedingly uncomfortable process for us all, but a great deal hangs in the balance and our duty is clear. We must find the truth." Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "The integrity of the court, that is very important.

For Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the least painful part of the resumed Clarence Thomas hearings may have been the two root canals performed on him by his dentist in the middle of the night. The committee's televised sessions--scheduled after the furor that erupted over allegations that Thomas had sexually harassed a former aide--held the nation spellbound, fascinated with the sexually explicit testimony and emotionally explosive charges of sexism and racism.

Anita Faye Hill was late coming home Monday, and the crowd began to mill, looking expectantly toward the door each time someone entered the ballroom of the student union of the University of Oklahoma. At 4:50 p.m., Hill strode into the room to the sound of 400 people applauding her. And for the first time in public since alleging in a press conference a week ago that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her, she burst into a wide smile.