Senate Judiciary Committee confirms Holder

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday passed on to the full Senate President Barack Obama's nomination of Eric Holder as U.S. attorney general.

The 17-2 vote came despite misgivings about his role in controversial pardons while he worked for the Justice Department during the Clinton administration and his reticence to promise not to prosecute government officials for harsh interrogations, the Boston Globe reported.

Holder, 58, gained a key Republican vote Tuesday when Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he would support the nomination.

The committee's vote was delayed amid requests by Republicans concerned about Holder's views on terror detainee interrogations during the Bush administration.

Besides delving into Holder's views on interrogation, Specter said he wanted to meet with Holder to learn more about Holder's role eight years ago in former President Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, an indicted financier who fled the country to avoid prosecution.

If the full Senate confirms Holder, he would become the nation's first African-American attorney general.