x I News Digest Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Wednesday, January 17,2001 Ashcroft: Duty not swayed by opinions ■The attorney general-designate believes his own views will not affect his service in the White House. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft, answering critics of his anti-abortion and civil rights views, pledged Tuesday to enforce the nation’s laws despite his “personal preferences.” While Ashcroft said in an opening statement at his Senate confirmation hearing that he believes the Roe v. Wade case legalizing abortion was “wrongly decided,” he accepts it “as the settled law of the land. The Supreme Court’s decisions on this have been multiple, recent and emphatic.” He insisted that, if confirmed, he would be “advancing the national interest, not advocating my personal interest,” adding that he would enforce federal laws protecting women’s access to abortion clinics. “No woman should fear being threatened or coerced in seeking constitutionally protected health services,” he said. Not since the Clarence Thomas hearings a decade ago has the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings amid such an onslaught of criticism against a nominee from civil rights and women’s groups. “From racial profiling to news of unwarranted strip searches, the list of injustice in America today is still long. Injustice in America against any individual must not stand,” Ashcroft said. The nominee, a former Republican senator from Missouri, commented on several specific issues in his opening statement and then told senators they could “pummel me with questions.” “When I swear to uphold the law, I will keep my oath, so help me God,” Ashcroft said, holding his hand up as he completed his statement Four people in the hearing room crowd of200 immedi ately began yelling, “Ashcroft kills! ” Within seconds, they were surrounded by police offi cers, who carried one protester outoftheroomas the other s Alex Wong/Newsmakers A supporter of former Senator John Ashcroft, left, and an anti-Ashcroft protester hold banners as they demonstrate Tuesday on Capitol Hid m Washington IXCThe Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this week on the nomination of Ashcroft to the Ui. attorney general position. three left without resisting. Ashcroft a gun-control oppo nent who has been opposed by liberal women's groups, said that as a senator he voted to “deny the right to bear arms to those convicted of domestic violence offenses." He said he supported mandatory background checks for gun show sales and increased federal funds for law enforcement Ashcroft testified that his opposition to Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White, whose confirmation to be a federal judge was rejected, was “well founded.” Critics charged that Ashcroft’s opposition to White, who is black, was based on race. "Studying his judicial record, considering the implica tions of his decisions and hearing the widespread objec tions to his appointment from a large body of my con stituents, I simply came to the overwhelming conclusion that Judge White should not be given lifetime tenure as a U.S. District Court judge,” Ashcroft said. I I • , . ■: McVeigh execution date set THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OKLAHOMA CITY - The govern ment set a May 16 execution date Tuesday for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who has dropped his appeals and is apparently pinning all his hopes on winning clemency from the president The execution date was set by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Spokesman Dan Dunne said the agency will try to meet the needs of victims’ relatives and survivors, some of whom have expressed interest in watching McVeigh die by lethal injection. McVeigh* 32, who is on death row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., has said he doesn’t plan any more appeals and last Thursday allowed a deadline for resuming that process to expire. However, he has reserved the right to seek executive clemency. “That’s something Mr. McVeigh has under consideration,” said his attor ney, Nathan Chambers. McVeigh has 30 days to file a peti tion for clemency with the Justice Department which would make a rec ommendation to the president George W. Bush, who will be inau gurated Saturday, is a firm dea^h penalty supporter: 152 inmates were put to death during his tenure as Texas governor, and only once during nearly six years in office did he ever use his power to stop an execution. McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy for the April 19,1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others. It was the deadliest act of terrorism ever committed on U.S. soil. Prosecutors said McVeigh, a deco rated Gulf War veteran, was motivated by hatred of the U.S. government and a desire for revenge for the April 19, 1993, deaths of about 80 people in the cult disaster near Waco, Texas. Terry Nichols was convicted sepa rately and sentenced to life in prison. The federal government has not put a prisoner to death since 1963, when it executed Victor Feguer for murder and kidnapping. There is one federal execution set before May 16 - that of David Paul Hammer, who is scheduled to die by injectionaon Feb. 21 for strangling his cellmate. But he is pursuing appeals. “If there is any individual who deserves the ultimate punishment, it is Timothy McVeigh, who forfeited his life the moment he detonated that deadly cargo he had brought to down town Oklahoma City,” Gov. Frank Keating said. But Kevin Acers, president of the Oklahoma City Chapter of Amnesty International, said, “I don't believe that granting an execution date for Timothy McVeigh in any way compensates for the tragedy of his violent act” Betty Robins, who was working in the Murrah building at the time of the bombing, said the execution date is fine with her. -1 _ _ . uIf there is any individual who deserves the ultimate punishment, it is Timothy McVeigh Frank Keating governor “He can be forgiven, but he must pay restitution, and his death will be that restitution,” she said. “I just wish he would tell people why before he dies and what he wanted to accom plish.” Oklahoma City Attorney Karen Howick said she is pursuing an effort to get a closed circuit television hookup for families to watch the execution. McVeigh has never publicly explained why he wanted to drop his appeals and get a prompt execution date. McVeigh’s father, retired Pendleton, N.Y., factory worker William McVeigh, has said that his son explained his decision to drop appeals to the family. He told The Buffalo News: "I guess his feeling is, he knows he’s going to die—it might as well be soon er than later.” Others speculated McVeigh wants to become a martyr for anti-govern ment causes, or wants to mock the government with his petition for clemency, knowing that federal authorities haven’t put anyone to death in nearly 40 years. 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