NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- In a statement released this afternoon, Lawrence Auriana, Chairman of the Filangieri Society for Justice and Good Government, praised the Senate confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court and blasted senators from states with strong Italian-American communities for their failure to support the nomination.
The text of the statement follows:
"As part of the Italian-American community, the Filangieri Society is enormously pleased and gratified to see that the U.S. Senate has confirmed the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito, Jr., to the Supreme Court. We applaud President George W. Bush on this excellent choice. The American Bar Association unanimously awarded Judge Alito its highest ranking in recommending him for the Supreme Court.
"At the same time, the Filangieri Society is deeply disappointed to see that Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey voted against Sam Alito.
"For the millions of Italian-Americans in both Rhode Island and New Jersey, Judge Alito's nomination was a source of pride and inspiration because he has shown himself to be a balanced, fair and thoughtful jurist who has the intellect, experience and temperament to be an outstanding Supreme Court justice.
"This coming fall, we will remind Italian-Americans in Rhode Island and New Jersey that their senators failed to support a highly qualified Italian-American for the Supreme Court and to voice their displeasure at the ballot box."
The Filangieri Society for Justice and Good Government is a non-partisan 527 organization supporting qualified Italian-Americans for positions in government. Mr. Auriana is also a director of the National Italian-American Foundation and chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation.