The committee that interviewed eight people from Western Pennsylvania last week for the position of U.S. attorney turned over its recommendations to Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey this week.

It is unclear when the senators will make their recommendation to the White House.

More than 40 candidates to fill the top federal law enforcement position in each of the three Pennsylvania districts were interviewed July 17 at the Harrisburg Hilton.

The interviews, staggered at 15 minutes each over a 12-hour period, were conducted by a panel of 16 -- eight appointed by each senator.

Those local representatives on the committee included former state Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Baldwin, as well as attorneys William Goodrich and Douglas Campbell.

The committee was co-chaired by Thomas R. Kline, appointed by Sen. Specter, and Robert Ross, appointed by Mr. Casey.

Mr. Kline is a law partner with Mr. Specter's son at Shanin, at Kline & Specter, P.C., in Philadelphia, and Mr. Ross is a law partner with Mr. Casey's brother, Matthew, at Ross Feller Casey, LLP, in Philadelphia.

Also on the committee was Christopher Casey, another of Mr. Casey's brothers, from Dillworth Paxson, LLP, also of Philadelphia.

Among the qualities Mr. Ross considered in the applicants: professional achievement, intellect, integrity, honesty, work ethic, dedication to the district and community service.

"It was a very impressive group of applicants across the board," Mr. Ross said.

For the Western District seat, those people who interviewed included: Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Bruce Beemer; state Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont; attorney Ron DiNicola, of the Erie firm DiNicola Law Offices; attorney Efrem M. Grail with Reed Smith, LLP; attorney David Hickton of Burns, White & Hickton; assistant U.S. attorneys Stephen R. Kaufman and Tina O. Miller; and Michael Walther, director of the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown.

Each applicant was interviewed by the full committee, and they were all asked similar questions, Mr. Kline said.

Mr. Ross said there wasn't a great amount of lead time in terms of setting the interview dates -- the candidates weren't notified of the July 17 interviews until late in the afternoon of July 9.

The panel members reviewed a detailed, 30-question application, as well as published writings for each candidate.

"We, literally, had reams of paper to plow through," Mr. Kline said. "It was a heavy task."