Orrin Hatch

Orrin Hatch
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Patrick Leahy
Succeeded by	Chuck Grassley
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Ron Wyden
Succeeded by	Chuck Grassley
Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Patrick Leahy
Succeeded by	Arlen Specter
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001
Preceded by	Patrick Leahy
Succeeded by	Patrick Leahy
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Joe Biden
Succeeded by	Patrick Leahy
Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Harrison A. Williams
Succeeded by	Ted Kennedy
United States Senator
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Frank Moss
Succeeded by	Mitt Romney
Born	March 22 1934(1934-03-22) Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 23 2022 (aged 88) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Elaine Hansen (m. 1957)
Children	6
Signature

Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history.

Hatch chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 1981 to 1987. He served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005. On January 3, 2015, after the 114th United States Congress was sworn in, he became president pro tempore of the Senate. He was chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 2015 to 2019, and led efforts to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Senator Hatch dedicated his life to public service, committed to expanding freedom and opportunity for others. A man of deep religious faith, his beliefs guided him to work with, not against, others of different religious and political views. He worked to ensure the free exercise of religion for all and was able to "reach across the aisle" to sponsor significant bipartisan legislation that benefited a wide range of Americans, including children of low income families, persons with disabilities, seniors, and more.

Life

Orrin Grant Hatch was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He was the son of Jesse Hatch (1904–1992), a metal lather, and his wife Helen Frances Hatch (née Kamm; 1906–1995). Hatch had eight brothers and sisters, two of whom died during infancy. Hatch was profoundly affected by the loss of his older brother Jesse, a U.S. Army Air Forces nose turret gunner with the 725th Bombardment Squadron who was killed on February 7, 1945, when the B-24 he was aboard was shot down over Austria.

Hatch, who grew up in poverty, was the first in his family to attend college; he attended Brigham Young University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1959. In 1962, Hatch received a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Hatch has stated that during law school, he and his young family resided in a refurbished chicken coop behind his parents' house. Hatch worked as an attorney in Pittsburgh and moved to Utah in 1969, where he continued to practice law.

Hatch was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Although he was born in Pennsylvania, his parents had been raised in Utah and he had ancestors who were members of the LDS Church in Nauvoo, Illinois. Hatch served as an Latter-day Saint missionary in what was called the "Great Lakes States Mission" essentially covering large parts of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Hatch later served in various positions in the church, including as a bishop. Hatch married Elaine Hansen on August 28, 1957. They had six children.

Hatch was a founder and co-chair of the Federalist Society, an organization of conservative lawyers. He served as a member of the board of directors of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In a 1996 interview on 60 Minutes, Hatch said he wore a mezuzah necklace in order to remind himself that another Holocaust should never be allowed to occur.

Despite their political differences, Hatch was a longtime friend of fellow senator Ted Kennedy, and spoke at his memorial service in 2009,

Hatch died in Salt Lake City on April 23, 2022, aged 88, from complications of a stroke he had the week prior. He was buried in Newton.

Political career

In 1976, in his first run for public office, Hatch was elected to the United States Senate, defeating Democrat Frank Moss, a three-term incumbent. Hatch ran on the promise of term limits.

Hatch greeting President George H. W. Bush

In 1982, Hatch won re-election, defeating Ted Wilson, the mayor of Salt Lake City, by 17 points. He defeated Brian Moss (Frank Moss' son) in 1988 and was re-elected without facing a serious challenge in 1994, 2000, 2006.

After the defeat of Utah's Senator Bob Bennett in 2010, conjecture began as to whether six-term Senator Hatch would retire in 2012. In January 2011, Hatch announced his campaign for re-election. Later, nine other Republicans, including former State Senator Dan Liljenquist and then-State Legislator Chris Herrod, declared campaigns for U.S. Senator. At the Republican convention, Hatch failed to get the 60 percent vote needed to clinch the Republican nomination, so he faced Liljenquist (the second-place finisher) in the June 26 primary. Hatch won the primary easily. It was Hatch's first primary competition since his election in 1976. The Democratic convention chose former state senator and IBM executive Scott Howell as the Democratic Party candidate. Hatch defeated Howell, and continued in the Senate for his seventh term.

Presidential endorsements

In 2000, Hatch campaigned for the Republican Party nomination for president. After finishing last in the Iowa caucuses, Hatch withdrew his candidacy on January 27, 2000, and endorsed the eventual winner George W. Bush.

In the 2016 presidential election, Hatch originally supported former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and later endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio once Bush ended his campaign. On May 12, 2016, after Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Hatch endorsed him. On October 7, 2016, following the Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Hatch maintained his endorsement of Trump's candidacy despite Trump's faults, noting that he was not his first choice to be the Republican nominee and it was important to keep the non-traditional candidate in line with the Republican Party’s values. Hatch asserted that "You’ve got to make sure you have someone like Orrin Hatch to ensure a President Trump toes the line.”

U.S. Senate tenure

Hatch with Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. C. Everett Koop (far right), Elizabeth Koop (left), and HHS Secretary Richard Schweiker (right) (November 16, 1981)

During his long service as senator, Hatch chaired the Committee on Labor and Human Resources (Ninety-seventh to Ninety-ninth Congresses) and served on the Committee on the Judiciary (One Hundred Fourth to One Hundred Sixth Congresses; One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001], One Hundred Eighth Congress) and the Committee on Finance (One Hundred Fourteenth and One Hundred Fifteenth Congresses).

Hatch meeting Queen Elizabeth II in 1991

Hatch expressed interest in serving on the United States Supreme Court, and it was reported that he was on Ronald Reagan's short list of candidates to succeed Lewis F. Powell Jr. on the Supreme Court, but was passed over at least in part because of the Ineligibility Clause. Despite that, he vocally supported Robert Bork, who was nominated for the vacancy instead.

On January 3, 2015, after the 114th United States Congress was sworn in, Hatch became President pro tempore of the Senate.

Hatch with President Donald Trump and Senator Mike Lee in 2017

Hatch was absent from the 2017 Inauguration Day festivities. At the request of President-elect Donald Trump, he agreed to serve as designated survivor during the inauguration and was kept at a secure, undisclosed location.

Hatch announced on January 2, 2018, that he would retire from the Senate instead of seeking re-election that November; he retired from the Senate on January 3, 2019, having served there for 42 years. At the time of his retirement announcement, he was the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Utah history (having eclipsed previous record-holder Reed Smoot in 2007), and the longest-serving Republican U.S. Senator in the history of Congress.

Political positions

Abortion

Hatch was strongly opposed to abortion and was the author of the Hatch Amendment (1982) proposed to the U.S. Constitution, which states that there is no constitutional right to abortion and would empower the states to restrict abortion as they saw fit.

Anti-terrorism

Hatch visits at the White House with President George W. Bush following the September 11 attacks.

In 1995, Hatch was the leading figure behind the senate's anti-terrorism bill, to a large extent a response to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Elements of the bill were criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee on civil liberties grounds, especially the new limits imposed on habeas corpus in capital cases.

As a senior member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hatch was also instrumental in the 2008 extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. After its passage, he commented:

This bipartisan bill will help defeat terrorism and keep America safe. No, the legislation is not perfect, but it ensures that the increased expansion of the judiciary into foreign intelligence gathering doesn't unnecessarily hamper our intelligence community.

Bailouts

Hatch voted in favor of the 2008 legislation that established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Later, in 2011, he said that he "probably made a mistake voting for it," but claimed that "at the time, we were in real trouble and it looked like we were ready for a depression. I believe we would have gone into a depression." He voted against the renewal of TARP in 2009.

Hatch voted in favor of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 which authorized $300 billion to guarantee mortgages and restore confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Balanced budget amendment

Hatch was a longtime advocate of amending the United States Constitution to require that total spending of the federal government for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts. During his time in the Senate, Hatch sponsored a balanced budget amendment 17 times—4 times as lead sponsor and 13 times as a co-sponsor.

Health care reform

Hatch opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. He was one of the first senators to suggest that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and promised to work on dismantling it when he becomes the Finance Committee Chairman. Hatch was part of the group of 13 senators drafting the Senate version of the AHCA behind closed doors.

In 2003, Hatch supported the Medicare prescription drug benefit plan known as Medicare Part D.

On March 25, 2014, Hatch cosponsored the Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act of 2014 in the Senate; the bill would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program through FY2019. Hatch argued that "children require specialized medical care, and that specialized care comes with unique challenges. The EMSC program helps ensure that some of our country's most vulnerable have access to the care they need, and I've been proud to support it all these years."

Immigration

Hatch was one of the architects and advocates of the expansion of H-1B visas and has generally been an advocate of tougher enforcement immigration policy including voting for 1,500 new law enforcement agents to patrol the United States' borders. His 2010 Immigration Bill titled Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America's Security Act has received the support of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). In 2001, he also introduced the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), which would provide a pathway to citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants who were children when their parents came to the United States. However, it did not pass.

Judicial nominations

As ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hatch fought hard to get conservative judges nominated to the Supreme Court. He took a leading role in the Senate confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas in October 1991. He was also a strong supporter of Jay Bybee during Bybee's confirmation hearings for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Nevertheless, in 1993, Hatch recommended Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom he knew personally, to President Bill Clinton to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, even as he knew she was a political liberal. Clinton had not previously considered Ginsburg, and Hatch, as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, assured him that a Ginsburg confirmation would go smoothly. Ginsburg was ultimately confirmed 96-3 in the Senate.

Intellectual property

Hatch was long a proponent of expanding intellectual property rights, believing that intellectual property laws should, in general, more closely mirror real property laws, and offer greater protections to authors and creators. In 1997 introduced the Senate version of the Copyright Term Extension Act.

On September 20, 2010, Hatch attempted to outlaw websites which could be used for trademark and copyright infringement through the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA). This bill would authorize the United States Department of Justice to blacklist and censor all websites that the department deemed to be dedicated to "infringing activities."

Same-sex marriage

Hatch supported the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

In April 2013, Hatch stated that he viewed same-sex marriage as "undermining the very basis of marital law," but declined to support a Federal Marriage Amendment and endorsed same-sex couples' right to form a civil union, stating that the law should "give gay people the same rights as married people." Later that same year, Hatch voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation creating protected classes for those identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. In 2018, Hatch gave a speech in support of programs to help and serve LGBT youth.

Nuclear testing

Hatch holds a press conference with Representative Wayne Owens in March 1989 as part of their successful charge to win passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

During Hatch's first year in the Senate in 1977, reporter Gordon Eliot White of the Deseret News published the first of what would be a lengthy series of articles detailing government malfeasance in atmospheric testing of nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site. Though Hatch feared an investigation would endanger the nation's nuclear deterrence versus the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, by 1979 he was pushing for hearings on the issue before the Senate Labor Committee. Hatch prevailed on Committee Chairman Ted Kennedy to hold field hearings in Utah in 1980. At the end of 1980, Hatch was positioned to chair the committee himself.

By 1984, Hatch had held a dozen hearings, passed legislation requiring scientific investigation of the injuries, and enlisted the aid of the National Science Foundation and National Cancer Institute, but still could not muster the votes to get a bill passed. When a vote was obtained in the Senate in 1985 (as an amendment to a bill to compensate affected Pacific Islanders for nuclear tests in the 1950s), it failed by a handful of votes. Hatch discovered a clause in the proposed Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Kiribati and Tuvalu to pay at least $100 million to residents of the Marshall Islands for injuries similar to those of Utahns, and Hatch took the treaty hostage. His hold on consideration of the treaty eventually got agreement from the Reagan administration to agree not to oppose radiation compensation for Utah citizens, but it still took another five years to get the bill through. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 provided compensation for citizens injured by radioactive fallout from the tests.

In December 2010, Hatch was one of twenty-six senators who voted against the ratification of New Start, a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russian Federation obliging both countries to have no more than 1,550 strategic warheads as well as 700 launchers deployed during the next seven years along with providing a continuation of on-site inspections that halted when START I expired the previous year. It was the first arms treaty with Russia in eight years.

Opioid crisis

In 2015, Hatch introduced the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act. He stated the bill was also written to protect patients from disruptions in the production and delivery of their prescription drugs: Prescription drug abuse is a complicated and troubling trend that requires better coordination between drug manufacturers and law enforcement,” Hatch said. “The fact that prescription drugs can be abused should not prevent patients from receiving the medications they need. This bill takes a balanced approach to the problem of prescription drug abuse by clarifying penalties for manufacturing or dispensing outside approved procedures while helping to ensure that supply chains to legitimate users remain intact. It will encourage companies to notify law enforcement proactively when they discover potential diversion and to work with officials to help keep these drugs in the right hands.

The Bill passed and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on April 19, 2016.

Religious freedom

Hatch chaired the Senate subcommittee that investigated Reverend Sun Myung Moon's tax case, which concluded: I do feel strongly, after my subcommittee has carefully and objectively reviewed this [Reverend Moon's tax] case from both sides, that injustice rather than justice has been served. The Moon case sends a strong signal that if one's views are unpopular enough, this country will find a way not to tolerate, but to convict.

Hatch co-authored the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) with Senator Ted Kennedy. One of the most critical bipartisan efforts of the last decades, it passed by overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Hatch was the main author of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which protected all religions' right to build church facilities on private property. In 2010, Hatch defended the right of a private organization to build a mosque on private property in downtown Manhattan, citing this law and defense of the freedom of religion.

Other issues

Hatch voted for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1999, saying "committing crimes of moral turpitude such as perjury and obstruction of justice go to the heart of qualification for public office ... This great nation can tolerate a president who makes mistakes. But it cannot tolerate one who makes a mistake and then breaks the law to cover it up. Any other citizen would be prosecuted for these crimes."

In 1999, Hatch called for a federal probe into manufacturers of violent video games, and proposed making the existing voluntary rating system for video games (ESRB) mandatory by federal law.

A vocal supporter of stem cell research, Hatch was one of 58 senators who signed a letter directed to President George W. Bush, requesting the relaxing of federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. In 2010, Hatch's bill was reauthorized which allowed stem cells from umbilical cords to be used to find treatment options.

In 2017, Hatch was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging the President to have the United States withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Committee assignments

Hatch, official 110th Congress portrait

• Committee on Finance (Chairman)
  • As Chairman of the full committee, Hatch could serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees of which he was not already a full member.
  • Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
  • Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
  • Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Children and Families
  • Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
• Special Committee on Aging
• Joint Committee on Taxation
• Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. (Vice Chair)

Caucus memberships

• Afterschool Caucuses

Musical career

Hatch played the piano, violin, and organ. Fueled by his interest in poetry, Hatch composed a number of songs. One of his songs, “Unspoken,” went platinum after appearing on “WOW Hits 2005,” a compilation of Christian pop music. Hatch co-authored "Everything And More", sung by Billy Gilman.

In March 1997, Hatch and Janice Kapp Perry jointly recorded an album of music with Tree Music entitled "My God Is Love." Hatch's later albums with Perry included "Come to the Manger." Hatch and Janice Kapp Perry also co-wrote the song "Heal Our Land", which was performed at George W. Bush's January 2005 inauguration.

Hatch, along with Lowell Alexander and Phil Naish, composed the 2006 song "Blades Of Grass And Pure White Stones."

Hatch appeared as himself, alongside Chuck Grassley, in Steven Soderbergh's 2000 Oscar-winning drama Traffic, in a brief cameo in a scene set during a Washington, D.C. cocktail party. Soderbergh later featured one of Hatch's songs, "Souls Along The Way," in his film Ocean's 12 as background music for a scene in Hatch's home state of Utah.

In 2009, at the request of The Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg, Hatch authored the lyrics to "Eight Days of Hanukkah," described by Goldberg as "a hip hop Hannukah song written by the senior senator from Utah."

Written works

• Hatch, Orrin. The Equal Rights Amendment: Myths and Realities. Savant Press, 1983.
• Hatch, Orrin. Higher Laws: Understanding the Doctrines of Christ. Deseret Book Co., 1995. ISBN 978-0875798967
• Hatch, Orrin. Square Peg: Confessions of a Citizen Senator. Basic Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0465028672
• Hatch, Orrin. Orrin Hatch, the L.D.S. Mormon Politician as Songwriter. American Music Center, 2003.

Legacy

Orrin Hatch has been called "the most effective senator," of recent US history, not just due his longevity, but as "a measure of personal skill, political brilliance, staff quality, and the ability to work as a bipartisan leader on great issues." These issues include the Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act of 2014 which launched a health insurance program for uninsured children; the Hatch‐Waxman Act of 1984, a piece of legislation that effectively created the modern generic drug market; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, that assures fair treatment and access to all; and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993; among many others.

President Trump presenting the Medal of Freedom to Hatch

Honors

Hatch was awarded the following honors:

• Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)
• Order of Duke Branimir, Republic of Croatia (October 29, 2018)
• Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, presented on November 16, 2018 by President Donald Trump.
• Secretary of the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award (December 11, 2018)

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Doyle, William. Titan of the Senate: Orrin Hatch and the Once and Future Golden Age of Bipartisanship. Center Street, 2022. ISBN 978-1546001454
• Hatch, Orrin. Square Peg: Confessions of a Citizen Senator. Basic Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0465028672
• Singer, David, and Ruth R. Seldin (eds.). American Jewish Year Book 1997. New York: American Jewish Committee, 1997. ISBN 978-0874951110
• U.S. Senate. Proceedings of the United States Senate in the impeachment trial of President William Jefferson Clinton. U.S. G.P.O., 2000. ISBN 978-0160506307

External links

All links retrieved November 17, 2022.

• HATCH, Orrin Grant 1934 – 2022 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Orrin Hatch patriarchal blessing, 1861
• Orrin Hatch papers, MSS 6057 BYU Library - Special Collections
• Orrin Hatch Foundation
• Senator Orrin G. Hatch (1934 - 2022) In Congress 1977 - 2019 Congress.gov

Party Political Offices
Preceded by: Laurence J. Burton	Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Utah (Class 1) 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012	Succeeded by: Mitt Romney
United States Senate
Preceded by: Frank Moss	United States Senator (Class 1) from Utah 1977–2019 Served alongside: Jake Garn, Bob Bennett, Mike Lee	Succeeded by: Mitt Romney
Preceded by: Harrison A. Williams	Chair of the Senate Health Committee 1981–1987	Succeeded by: Ted Kennedy
Preceded by: Strom Thurmond	Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee 1993–1995	Succeeded by: Joe Biden
Preceded by: Joe Biden	Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee 1995–2001	Succeeded by: Patrick Leahy
Preceded by: Patrick Leahy	Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee 2001–2003
	Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee 2003–2005	Succeeded by: Arlen Specter
Preceded by: Chuck Grassley	Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee 2011–2015	Succeeded by: Ron Wyden
Preceded by: Ron Wyden	Chair of the Senate Finance Committee 2015–2019	Succeeded by: Chuck Grassley
Preceded by: Kevin Brady	Chair of the Joint Taxation Committee 2016–2017	Succeeded by: Kevin Brady
	Chair of the Joint Taxation Committee 2018–2019	Succeeded by: Richard Neal
New Title	Chair of the Joint Pensions Committee 2018–2019	Position abolished
Honorary Titles
Preceded by: Richard Lugar	Most senior Republican in the United States Senate 2013–2019	Succeeded by: Chuck Grassley
Political offices
Preceded by: Patrick Leahy	President pro tempore of the United States Senate 2015–2019	Succeeded by: Chuck Grassley

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