Sessions: Harvard recruiter ban a big deal

WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- The ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday Elena Kagan's restriction on military recruiters at Harvard was no small deal.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said on ABC's "This Week" that Kagan's decision to continue a Harvard Law policy of banning recruiters from the school's career center was a mistake and stirred up a contentious national debate before she agreed to change it.

"This is no little bitty matter," Sessions said. "She would not let them come to the area that does the recruiting on the campus; ... this is not acceptable. It was a big error."

Sessions said such situations demonstrated the need to delve deeply into Kagan's views on interpreting the Constitution when she might not personally agree with an outcome.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on "This Week" that he did not view the Harvard dispute as a big deal because the armed forces were present on the campus the entire time, just not at the career center. "She was trying to follow Harvard's policy," he said. "She was also trying to make sure that students who wanted to go in the military could."