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judicial resolution," he said.
Also Wednesday, Alito sent the Senate Judiciary Committee more than 200 pages responding to a questionnaire on his qualifications and legal experience.
Among all the documents released, the Roe memo stood out for its strong views and language. It also appeared to offer a glimpse of Alito's personal views on one of the nation's most divisive social issues.
Alito critics noted that in a previously released application for a subsequent job in the Reagan administration, the nominee said he was "particularly proud" of his work in the solicitor general's office arguing "that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."
Bush administration officials insisted that in his Roe memo, Alito was only offering legal advice to his client, and that the memo offered no clues about how he might rule on abortion cases as a judge. They noted that in four abortion-related cases he heard as a federal judge, Alito ruled once for the antiabortion side and three times for the side advocating abortion rights.
Steve Schmidt, who is heading confirmation efforts and strategy for the White House, said that even if the memo reflected Alito's personal opinion, such views were "beside the point."
"Are opponents of abortion saying that there is a litmus test, that anyone who holds a personal opinion is precluded from serving on the Supreme Court?" Schmidt asked.
But the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said the memo showed why senators wanted access to all documents Alito penned for the Reagan administration.
"This new information heightens concern about Judge Alito's views regarding 'settled law' and his eagerness to engage in activism to change law with which he disagrees," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.). "We now see why this administration has resisted so strenuously to the release of these sorts of memos."
In his questionnaire, Alito provided new details about his financial holdings, including that he owns $161,000 of Exxon Mobil Corp. stock. Altogether, Alito estimated his net worth at $2.1 million, of which $870,000 is in real estate, $789,000 in stocks and mutual funds, $244,000 in cash and $60,000 in federal Series EE bonds.
According to previous financial disclosures reported last month by the Associated Press, the Exxon Mobil stock was a bequest from a family friend.
Other disclosures included:
Alito was first interviewed by Bush administration officials in June 2001 for a possible nomination to the Supreme Court. He was interviewed again in May of this year by Vice President Dick Cheney, Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonza
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