Press Conference with Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) - His Health, Nominations of Judges
Statement
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SEN. SPECTER: Good afternoon.
I've been asked to make some comments on the statement, which I released yesterday afternoon. I had a PET scan and got the results yesterday and it showed a mild recurrence of Hodgkin's. The classification is what they call IIIA, which is substantially lesser than what I had in 2005, which was classified as IVB.
I was frankly surprised by the results because I've been feeling fine, no symptoms and vigorous squash, active schedule, which you members of the media have been able to observe and even some comments about how good I was.
So it was a surprise. I have consulted Dr. Glick who handled my situation before and he has prescribed a return to chemotherapy, 12- week regimen once a week over 12 weeks and he thinks the prospects are excellent for a full recovery.
As you know, I've had a fair number of medical problems and twice diagnosed with fatal illnesses, Lou Gehrig's Disease and the diagnosis was wrong, a malignant brain tumor and given three to six weeks to live and that diagnosis was wrong and had multiple bypass surgery and was code blue. They called it cardiac arrest and came through that. Had Hodgkin's and chemotherapy, pale and bald and think and I've recovered.
I've suffered from identity theft at one point and we're taking it up in the Judiciary Committee and looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself. I talked to Governor Rendell yesterday. He said he would not make the mistake which he made at the 76ers basketball game in 2005 when he didn't recognize me and promised to be on the alert. At the Phillies' games this summer, if he saw me to recognize me, whether he did or not and I consider it another bump in the road.
I've had a lot of bumps and I've got good shock absorbers and played a vigorous game of squash today with a guy slightly less than half of my age and if you want authentication, I'll be glad to provide it for you.
I intend to complete all my Senate duties as I did last time and a full schedule today and to maintain the campaign activities and that's that. I wouldn't be totally shocked if somebody had a question, although I've comprehensively covered the subject.
Q Senator, based on your prior experience with chemotherapy in 2005, what do you expect your Senate schedule will look like during this next round of chemo?
SEN. SPECTER: Well, I'm sorry that I'm not the chairman, which would have been the greatest possible distraction. As I said in my book, the confirmation hearings and the Senate schedule were so totally occupying I had no time to think about myself, which was a good situation to be in. I have a very heavy schedule in any event, and I expect to be able to maintain it. I maintained it last time and I expect to be able to maintain it again.
Q Senator, (you keep pointing to family ?). You're obviously planning on running for reelection. Will this influence those plans at all or take away from any of the activities that you're planning -- (off mike)?
SEN. SPECTER: It does not influence it at all. I intend to maintain my efforts for reelection on the same level that I have at the present time and adjust my Senate work schedule and plan to go full steam ahead.
Q Have your doctors suggested, senator, that perhaps because of the illness that you slow down and consider, like other people your age --
SEN. SPECTER: He wouldn't dare do that. (Laughter.) I don't know what this talk is about my age. I've thought I covered that pretty well on the Jon Stewart -- "The Daily Show."
The fact is, Doctor Glick said to keep it up. He gave me that affirmative advice before I told him I was going to do it no matter what his -- what his advice was.
No, the full schedule, I think, is really good for a person. The more you're distracted, the less time you have to think about it, I think the better off you are. I went into some great detail on that on the book, and those are my genuine sentiments. And I think it stood me in good stead last time and would again.
Yeah.
Q How soon do you start treatment?
SEN. SPECTER: A week from Friday.
Q Senator, do you think you're mentally prepared --
SEN. SPECTER: What's that?
Q -- mentally or physically prepared for the treatment? Are you doing anything to prepare?
SEN. SPECTER: I don't understand the question.
Q Mentally, are you psyching yourself up in any way for the treatment, or?
SEN. SPECTER: Mentally, am I psyching myself up in any way? I don't have to. (Laughs.) It comes naturally. It comes naturally.
Q Senator, is there any significance to the reoccurrence? I mean, if it comes back a second time, is that speaking to -- what's the significance of it reoccurring once again and if it comes back a third time? And what does your doctor say about --
SEN. SPECTER: Well, it is not unusual to have a reoccurrence. In one centimeter, the doctor explains there are million cells. And I've had a whole series of PET scans. That's a very, very precise examination, and up until the one recently they were all negative and showed no sign. But in the millions of cells, if you miss one, it can regenerate. And when it regenerates, you have to go back to a treatment again. I think it may be somewhat similar to the brain tumor I had. As you know, that was diagnosed as a malignancy, three to six weeks to live, and they were wrong. It turned out to be benign, but it grew back a little. And in the course of three years, very similar to this situation, it grew back, and I detected it on an MRI, and the second time around it wasn't necessary to have a cutting.
There was a stereotype that put a lot of rays on my head on what is called a gamma knife procedure, and this may be the same. And I had the second procedure for the benign tumor in 1996, and eight years have passed and I'm fine. So maybe it'll be the same -- or maybe it won't, you never know. You deal with it as it comes up.
Q Other than physical activity, what do you do that sustains you? I mean, just would you say, other than just physical activity?
SEN. SPECTER: What do I do that sustains me? A lot of motivation.
Q (Off mike) -- your faith?
SEN. SPECTER: Got a good job. Yeah, faith, family, questions from the news media. (Laughter.) It's very important to be on the tip of your toes around this place. It's a great privilege, as I've said with some frequency, to be a senator, and it's very exhilarating. It's very demanding; something is always happening. We're battling with judges this morning on the floor. We got -- trying to resuscitate the patent bill. I got the emergency supplemental, which we have to take up on the Appropriations Committee. We have very serious problems on mine safety, trying to come to grips with it and lessons from the Utah mine disaster. Have a wide range of activities, which require a lot of attention.
Q What is the (status ?) of the patent bill? (Off mike) -- resurrect the patent bill.
SEN. SPECTER: The status is that we're going to continue to work on that. The patent bill is, as you know, extraordinarily complicated and its consequences are very, very far-reaching. It involves about an important an item on productivity for this country as you have on intellectual property, and mistakes can be very, very costly. And that's why we're determined to get it right.
I have a staffer on this, Ryan Triplett, who -- probably the best on Capitol Hill -- and every day we field a lot of questions. And had several questions today, meetings on the subject, and just determined to get it right.
Q There seemed to be (massive ?) sentiment that the bill was dead, that you -- because time is running out to get it done this year and that Democrats might just wait until next year assuming they might have more Democrats in the Senate.
SEN. SPECTER: Well, I don't know -- I don't know that they will have more Democrats in the Senate, and I don't know that more Democrats in the Senate would do them any good. I think that Senator Leahy, Senator Hatch and I and others have approached this on a nonpartisan basis, really not a Democrat and Republican matter. And time is not running out. It's April 16th. There's a lot of time left.
Q So those who are saying the bill is dying -- (off mike)?
SEN. SPECTER: Well, you can have that attitude if you want to, but I don't think it's right, and that's not my attitude. My attitude is we've got plenty of time to do it.
Yes.
Q Since you made your announcement yesterday about the recurrence, has there been any reaction from your Senate colleagues that stand out?
SEN. SPECTER: Yeah, I've had an -- (chuckles) -- overwhelming response on calls and notes and hugs. Yeah.
Q Do you want to --
SEN. SPECTER: That's a -- you talk about a great unifier, this is it. This is one thing that everybody can agree on.
Q Sir, can I ask you, Senator Reid has suggested that he'd like the Justice Department to investigate Coconut Grove earmark that's caused a stir on the floor. And I wonder if you think it's a good idea for the Justice Department to investigate congressional earmarks like that, or should that be a matter -- that matter be handled by Congress?
SEN. SPECTER: Senator Reid wants DOJ to do what?
Q To investigate how that Coconut Grove earmark was changed after the conference report was filed and it went to the White House.
SEN. SPECTER: Which one is that?
Q That's the one associated with Don Young, the -- (off mike) -- highway interchange --
SEN. SPECTER: Well, I don't know the details of that, but I would leave that up to the attorney general.
Q But do you think that it's a good idea for -- is that a matter that the Department of Justice should look into, or is that a matter that Congress should investigate itself, as some senators are suggesting?
SEN. SPECTER: Well, my inclination would be that Congress ought to take the lead on it. If it's an earmark -- since it is an earmark, some suggestion that some documents were changed in the congressional process, I think as a matter of first impression it ought to be looked at by the -- by the Congress. But I think it's okay if the attorney general reviews it on Senator Reid's request and looks at it as well. I think new investigations are fine.
Q Senator, Senator Reid was on the floor last night and he offered a kind of deal on judges to Senator McConnell after they had met, and basically said -- (off mike) -- that he would try to get three circuit court nominees voted on and confirmed, that he would try his best. Is that sort of a good-faith offer? It's not a -- (off mike) -- guarantee of anything, but is that okay with you? Does that --
SEN. SPECTER: Well, I think it's a step in the right direction and I would accept what Senator Reid has said as a(n) indicator of good faith. I think it's important which judges they are. I think the -- I was on the floor talking about it earlier today.
I think the number one nominee is Peter Keisler; been around for almost two years, District of Columbia, a little representation about the seat not being necessary, which is factually not correct. And then you had Judge Conrad from North Carolina in the 4th Circuit and Steve Matthews from South Carolina. I think it's important which three judges they are.
If you missed my floor statement today, I got a response from Senator Obama. I wrote to Senator Obama, Senator McCain and Senator Clinton last week, asking for their positions on an action I intend to take to try to get the Judiciary Committee discharged from the nominations of Keisler, Matthews and Conrad. And Senator Obama responded today -- the only one -- saying that he would defer to the majority leader and the chairman. And I said on the Senate floor today, respectfully, that that's an insufficient answer; that each of us, including Senator Obama, takes an oath to uphold the Constitution, and the Constitution requires senators to vote -- advise and consent. And you can't delegate a constitutional responsibility.
And I've suggested to George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson that they question them tonight on the program. I think it's a matter of real importance on judges, and I think Senator Obama ought to rethink that. It's non-delegable. Can't do that. Cannot do that.
Q Senator, you made a similar attempt on D.C. Circuit -- 4th Circuit nominations in the '90s to try to get those nominations out of committee when those were held up.
SEN. SPECTER: Talking about what happened before?
Q Right.
SEN. SPECTER: Well, as I said on the floor today, when the Republican caucus responded to President Clinton, I thought the caucus was wrong, and I said so, and I said on the floor that I disagreed with the chairman. The chairman happened to be sitting right next to me. Senator Hatch was there. I told the chairman I thought he was wrong. Senator Hatch nodded in the affirmative. So I said, "Let the record show that Senator Hatch's recollection" -- not that he has to agree with me that he was wrong. But I think independence is required on these matters, and I think that Senator Obama and Senator Clinton and Senator McCain ought to respond to the question. It's a very important question, and I'd recommend that they exercise independent judgment on it.
Q You've hinted that if the Democrats don't change the pace, there could be retaliation, and that the next Democratic president -- (off mike) -- and so on. If that's the case and with a Democratic president, will you urge your Republican colleagues to show restraint and -- (off mike)?
SEN. SPECTER: (Laughs.) Well, my prediction would be that if this controversy goes into the next Congress, there will be retaliation. And I base that on the retaliation that we've had exacerbated every year since the second two -- last two years of President Reagan's administration.
And what will I do? I'll take a look at the candidates individually, like I did with President Clinton's nominees, and I'll support the ones who are qualified. I will not be bound by a party caucus to defeat judges who are qualified for confirmation. Won't do that.
Q Senator, can I get back to -- (off mike)? Are you at all worried that because of -- you've been very open about the Hodgkin's. And you know, are you worried that that might open you up to Democrats who are trying to exploit that in terms of your vulnerabilities or your ability to continue your Senate duties, and that they might use that as a political weapon of sorts? Obviously, we're seeing age becoming an issue in, for example, the Lautenberg race. I mean, is that -- is that something that you're concerned about?
SEN. SPECTER: Well, you have to remember that I won't face the age situation that you refer to on Senator Lautenberg until the year 2016. He's got a good six years on me on that subject.
And when this question comes up, I revert to my answer on the Jon Stewart show. He asked me how old I was and I said, "I forget." (Laughter.) And then I said I looked at my birth certificate recently and I decided not to let a little thing like that bother me because it happened so long ago.
And do I think that the Democrats will exploit it if they have an opportunity? Yeah, I would expect them to. I just don't anticipate giving them any opportunity. (Chuckles.)
Thank you all very much. Nice to see you all.
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