The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of New Hampshire jurist David H. Souter to the Supreme Court on Thursday with but one dissenting vote. The full Senate is expected to confirm him easily when it votes next Tuesday, the day after the court begins its session. Democrats as well as Republicans on the committee said they saw in President Bush's nominee a brilliant legal scholar and a man of good temperament and integrity. In the 13-1 vote, only Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., opposed him, saying he feared Souter would ``solidify a 5-4 anti-civil-rights, anti-privacy majority.'' Howell Heflin, a conservative Alabama Democrat whose opposition helped kill the 1987 Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork, said he liked Souter's ``clearheaded approach'' and lack of an ideological agenda. Added Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio: ``My sense is that David Souter is a fair and open-minded jurist who knows well the weight of the responsibilities which will be placed upon him,'' Bush hailed the committee action and repeated his request that the Senate ``act as quickly as possible to confirm this man'' so he could be seated when the court begins its new session. But Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell announced Thursday night that he and Republican leaders agreed to hold the confirmation vote on Souter on Tuesday. The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur which was interrupting Congress' schedule Friday. And Biden and other Democrats were loathe to waive rules that give senators time before voting to review a committee's findings. Souter, 51, in a statement released in New Hampshire, thanked committee leaders and members ``for their courtesy and consideration. I am gratified by their action. I await the decision of the full Senate.'' Earlier, Tom Rath, like Souter a former New Hampshire attorney general, said Souter heard of the panel's action on a radio in Rath's law office. ``To get this kind of overwhelming support makes us feel very good,'' Rath said, adding that Souter would issue his separate statement as soon as the White House approved it. The lopsided vote did not show the widespread unease on the committee caused by Souter's refusal to state his positions on abortion and other critical issues before the court. ``Judge Souter is not the sort of judge I would nominate if I were president,'' said committee chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., a supporter of abortion rights. Souter ``just barely'' met his criteria, Biden said. ``But I think that he is about the best we can expect'' from Bush, who opposes abortion rights, he said. ``Aspects of Judge Souter's testimony were of little comfort to legal conservatives including this senator,'' said Gordon Humphrey, R-N.H., in a statement released at the committee session. ``But we recognize that the president is entitled to considerable deference in his choice for the Supreme Court.'' Humphrey's New Hampshire colleague, Warren Rudman, a Republican not on the Budget Committee who has been Souter's mentor and Senate champion, said he was pleased with the vote and not disturbed by the reservations expressed by some members. ``That's normal,'' Rudman said. ``Those are people whoare obviously concerned about staking out political grounds for the future and I can understand that.'' Democrats who supported Souter expressed faith that he was as open-minded on women's rights and other issues as he professed to be. But Kennedy refused to go along. ``I am troubled that... he will solidify a 5-4 anti-civil-rights, anti-privacy majority inclined to turn back the clock on the historic progress of recent decades,'' Kennedy said. ``I hope I am wrong. But I fear I am right,'' Kennedy said. ``The lesson of the past decade ... is that we must vote our fears, not our hopes.'' ``I hope I'm not wrong,'' said Metzenbaum, usually a Kennedy ally, in revealing his affirmative vote. Kennedy won't be quite so alone when the nomination comes before the full Senate. Five other Democrats had announced their opposition to the nomination by Thursday, mostly based on the abortion issue. Molly Yard, president of the National Organization for Women, attended Thursday's committee meeting and said afterward: ``I tremble for the women of the United States.'' Senate Republicans urged the majority Democrats to schedule a full Senate vote before Monday. ``If we delay for only three days there will be a dozen cases in which he cannot participate,'' said Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., the deputy GOP leader. The court planned to hear arguments on four cases on each of the first three days next week.
