    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [June 14, 1993]
    [Page 846]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters
    June 14, 1993

    Senator Arlen Specter's Illness

        The President. [Inaudible]--and obviously I was very concerned--need
    for the operation, but our prayers are with him. And we're pulling for
    him.
        Q. Have you spoken to his family at all today?
        The President. No, I wanted to wait until, frankly, until I had all
    this out of the way and until there was time to, you know, get through
    the operation. Then I thought I'd call them--later. We have a time
    scheduled to call, but I haven't talked to them yet.
        Q. Were you shocked and surprised?
        The President. Yes. He was just here last week, and he was--you
    know, he brought in the family from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We've
    had a great visit, and we were talking about a number of different
    things.
        Q. Are you hopeful he'll come back?
        The President. Oh, absolutely. And I think he will. We're certainly
    hopeful.

    Supreme Court Nomination

        Q. Mr. President, on your nomination, was it tough for you to pass
    over Judge Breyer and Secretary Babbitt? Was it a hard decision?
        The President. Well, it was hard in the sense that they were all
    qualified. And there were two or three others I thought were
    exceptionally well qualified. But once I talked to her, I felt very
    strongly about her. This is not a negative thing on them. And as I said,
    out there in the crowd I had a half a dozen people come up to me and
    thank me for leaving Secretary Babbitt at the Interior Department. They
    say he's the best Interior Secretary they'd ever seen. So that was a
    real problem, but I like them all. I thought they were all superbly well
    qualified. And I think that they will be in the future.
        There was no negative--it was a positive position being able to pick
    the person I thought would be best at this time, a purely positive
    choice. In that sense it was a joy to make, but not easy. You can see
    today from--she's an extraordinary woman. She has incredible inner
    strength and character. And I think it will communicate itself and
    really help to create a good atmosphere at the Court.

    Note: The exchange began at 4:55 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
    exchange.