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 fter
the power shift in the Senate, Jeff Sessions, the Republican from
Alabama who sits on the Judiciary Committee, noticed something funny
about the way Bush administration nominees were sworn in for testimony
during their confirmation hearings. Everybody knows the drill; the
nominee stands and listens while the chairman says, "Do you swear
or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" The
nominee says, "I do" and the testimony begins.
That's the way it's been done by Republicans and Democrats for as
long as anyone can remember. But when Patrick Leahy became chairman
of the committee, he began administering the oath in a slightly
different way. He kept the part about swearing or affirming. He
kept the part about the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth. But he left off so help you God.
It happened over and over. Sessions and his staff listened as Leahy
administered oaths to Bush judicial nominees William Riley, Sam
Haddon, and Richard Cebull. No so help you God. He listened
as Leahy gave the oath to Justice Department nominees Sarah Hart,
Deborah Daniels, Asa Hutchinson, and Robert Mueller. No so help
you God. Sessions even went back to January, during the brief
period when Democrats controlled the committee, to check the oath
Leahy administered to attorney general John Ashcroft. No so help
you God.
In fact, it appeared that Leahy used so help you God only
once, in the oath administered to Roger Gregory, the federal judge
nominated by Bill Clinton and re-nominated by George W. Bush.
Sessions was curious — and disturbed. "When a nominee says,
'so help me God,' whether a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim or an adherent
to another faith, he knows that he is morally bound to tell the
truth," Sessions said in a statement. "To remove this moral obligation
from the oath would undermine the critical truth-finding process
in every hearing in Congress and every courtroom in America."
The senator looked into the history of the oath. The words so
help me God were first added to the oath of office by George
Washington and have been spoken by every president since. They are
part of the oath taken by senators when they are sworn into office.
They were part of the oaths administered by previous Judiciary Committee
chairman Orrin Hatch, Joseph Biden, Edward Kennedy, and others.
But there is no legally prescribed oath given to nominees and witnesses
who appear before Congress. As chairman of the committee, Leahy
is free to include so help you God or leave it out at his
pleasure.
Sessions brought the matter up this morning at a committee business
meeting on Capitol Hill, but encountered no resistance from Leahy.
"I didn't realize we weren't using the traditional oath," Leahy
said. "I'll correct myself, and I thank the senator for pointing
it out." When Sessions continued to stress the importance of the
oath, Leahy said, "If somebody lies before my committee, no matter
what oath they take, to God, or Allah, or whether they swear or
affirm, I'll turn it over to the Justice Department for prosecution
for perjury. But I've had no indication that that has happened before
our committee."
Finally, after the exchange was over, Leahy tried a lighter note.
"You do have to realize," he said, "I haven't been a chairman here
for very long," he said.
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