Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the following statement on the passing of Senator Arlen Specter:

"Senator Specter's grasp of the law was amazing. Over the many years we served together on the Judiciary Committee, I came to have great admiration for his ability to argue the importance of respecting precedent when potential Supreme Court Justices appeared before the committee.

"In fact, he coined the term ‘super precedent’ to describe the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. He displayed great courage in waging his battle against cancer—even as chemotherapy was having an obvious effect. I send my sympathy to his family and all who knew him."

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