Senators Highlight Scalia's Ancestry
An Alabama senator's Italian ties
I’m going to complete my Italy-vacation intermezzo by highlighting an amusing comment made during the Senate confirmation hearing on Antonin Scalia’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 1986.
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Scalia’s Italian ancestry was frequently highlighted at his confirmation hearing. Judiciary Committee chairman Strom Thurmond stated at the outset that Scalia “creates great pride by being the first Italian-American who will sit on the Court.” In addition to the conventional introductions by the two senators from the state in which he resided (Virginia), Scalia was introduced by two Italian American senators. Senator Al D’Amato of New York (the state in which Scalia was raised) declared:
It is a source of great pride to all Americans, and particularly to all Americans of Italian descent, that this brilliant son of an immigrant is being nominated to our nation's highest court.
Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico (a state with which Scalia had no particular connection) celebrated Scalia’s nomination “as a magnificent tribute to the Italian-Americans of this Nation”:
Of course, Italian Americans are Americans first and last, and it is because we are Americans that we applaud a fellow Italian American’s achievement of the American dream.
Democratic senator Patrick Leahy volunteered that he was half Italian and that “my Italian ancestry is a source of pride to me, and it is a source of pride to my family.”
All of which set the stage for Howell Heflin, Democratic senator from Alabama and a bear of a man with a strong drawl:
Judge Scalia, I believe that almost every Senator that has an Italian-American connection has come forward to welcome you to this or to participate in this hearing thus far. I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that my great great grandfather [laughter] married a widow [laughter] who was married first to an Italian American. [Laughter.]
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I can’t mention Howell Heflin without recalling a story about him during my time as a Senate staffer. Dining with reporters in the Senate cafeteria, Heflin reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and instead surprised everyone by pulling out … a pair of lady’s panties.
Heflin promptly issued a press release:
I mistakenly picked up a pair of my wife's white panties and put them in my pocket while I was rushing out the door to go to work.
Rather than take a chance on being embarrassed again, I'm going to start buying colored handkerchiefs.