Washington ? Sen. Sam Brownback praised Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as a champion of judicial restraint after the two met for an hour Tuesday.

The Kansas Republican, who has not said whether he will vote for Alito’s nomination, said Alito has “excellent qualifications to go onto the bench,” citing his 15 years as an appellate court judge.

“This is the type of nominee I’ve been asking for, as far as an individual of unquestionable qualifications and a long judicial track record,” Brownback told reporters outside his Capitol Hill offices.

Brownback’s buoyant mood stood in stark contrast to the disappointment he expressed last month after President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to the post. Miers eventually withdrew her nomination amid criticism from conservatives who questioned her judicial philosophy and lack of experience as a judge.

Brownback said he and Alito did not discuss the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, but Brownback noted that Alito seemed open to reconsidering some high court precedents.

“It also would look like to me he is open to reviewing cases, as he should be as a judge, but he did not say which cases he would review or not,” Brownback said.

Other senators who met with Alito on Tuesday said he expressed “great respect” for the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

Abortion rights groups who oppose Alito’s nomination point to his dissent in a case in which the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Pennsylvania law that included a provision requiring women seeking abortions to notify their spouses.

Brownback, one of the Senate’s most ardent abortion opponents, will be one of the senators quizzing Alito at his confirmation hearing in January.

“I think we are where we should be in this process of us being able to give advice and consent on somebody that we pretty well know and is a pretty tight constructionist on the Constitution,” Brownback said.