[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7112-S7118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Orrin Hatch

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am here to give thanks. Just a few 
days ago our country celebrated a national day of Thanksgiving. We 
celebrated food, fellowship, and freedom with family and friends. By 
any measure we are a people endowed with an abundance of blessings. As 
Americans, we have every reason to be grateful to share the prosperity 
of economic freedom, religious liberty, and self-government.
  Today, I come to the floor to extend my gratitude for one of the most 
distinguished public servants ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. It is 
my distinct privilege to stand here today to pay tribute to my good 
friend and colleague from Utah, Orrin Hatch.
  He is a man widely known for his integrity, character, and 
temperament. He is devoted to his family, his constituents, and his 
country. With overwhelming support from the good people of Utah, he has 
served his State and all of America in the U.S. Senate for 42 years.
  In those four decades of service, he has brought honor, humility, 
humor, and heart to this institution of the U.S. Senate. He has honed 
his legislative experience on a broad range of public policies. In 
fact, none of his peers have led more laws to final passage than my 
friend Senator Hatch. He has built successful bipartisan coalitions to 
enact laws that make a difference in the lives of everyday Americans.
  As former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and currently 
the senior member there, he is a champion of religious liberty and the 
rule of law. He is an advocate for entrepreneurship and free 
enterprise, as well as a champion of intellectual property rights, 
which includes being the lead Senate sponsor of the Music Modernization 
Act. He is just old enough to know when laws aren't keeping up with 
technology. Thanks to his tenacity, the new law will help ensure 
songwriters, artists, and creators that they will be fairly compensated 
for their works.
  Like so many Americans, Senator Hatch is a man of humble beginnings. 
He embraces the promise of prosperity and opportunity that makes 
America the beacon of the free world, and that brings me to the basis 
of my remarks today. From his decades of service and the chairmanship 
at the helm of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Hatch has 
shouldered some pretty heavy lifting in the legislative trenches to 
advance free and fair trade laws to foster economic growth and 
opportunity.
  As we all know, America is home to at least 320 million people. That 
is a fraction of the world's population, and yet America leads the 
world in economic output. Thanks to an amazing bounty of natural 
resources and an economic foundation that rewards ingenuity, 
productivity and creativity, our country, the United States, produces 
goods and services that consumers around the world want to buy.
  Senator Hatch and I share a core philosophy: lowering taxes and trade 
barriers as a winning formula for prosperity. To paraphrase a 
philosophy that often is attributed to our 35th President, ``a rising 
tide lifts all boats.'' Today, I want to give credit where credit is 
due. Thanks to Senator Hatch's unflinching leadership and unwavering 
commitment to advance the principles of free and fair trade, America's 
formula for prosperity and opportunity stands strong for generations to 
come.
  It is virtually impossible to recall any trade policy in recent 
history that does not have the fingerprints of my esteemed friend 
Senator Hatch all over those documents. In fact, he led the renewal of 
the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 
2015. It paved the way for a robust, transparent review of trade 
negotiations.
  Like Senator Hatch, I understand that America needs to speak with one 
voice on the world stage for effective, lasting trade agreements. We 
also agree on the constitutional authority

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of the legislative branch to maintain oversight of these trade 
agreements. Consultation with Congress is a focal ingredient to ensure 
that America's workers, job creators, and consumers benefit from the 
global economy.
  Senator Hatch also steered through bipartisan, bicameral trade 
legislation that updated our customs laws. It authorized the U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection to strengthen travel and trade 
enforcement at our borders. Passage of the Trade Facilitation and Trade 
Enforcement Act of 2015 holds our trading partners accountable. It 
preserves the twin pillars of America's most important economic assets: 
innovation and intellectual property. Putting in place effective tools 
to protect intellectual property and thwart counterfeit and illicit 
products from infiltrating the supply chain protects all of our 
consumers, all of our workers, and our job creators.
  Senator Hatch understands that trade agreements can do more harm than 
good without proper enforcement. Unfair trade can lead to bad trade. 
That is bad for America. Tax and trade cheats undermine our economy. 
Senator Hatch has worked tirelessly throughout his years at the helm of 
the U.S. Senate Finance Committee to weed out wrongdoers and, at the 
same time, to sow the seeds of accountability and transparency in our 
international trade regime. Protecting U.S. patents, copyrights, and 
trademarks are essential to U.S. innovation, investment, and prosperity 
in the 21st century.
  Senator Hatch has also worked to eliminate barriers to trade that 
helped developing nations create more open economies. His long-term 
commitment to renew the Generalized System of Preferences helped to 
lower input costs for U.S. job creators and manufacturers.
  On Senator Hatch's watch, investment and opportunity have grown 
around the world. That rising tide includes the African Growth and 
Opportunity Act and other trade agreements that facilitate economic 
development and democracy in developing nations.
  Expanding market access is good for America. As manufacturers and 
farmers in Iowa tell me time and again, that is the case. They want the 
opportunity to compete in every market for every sale. Americans want 
to do business on the world stage and compete on a level playing field. 
Thanks to Senator Hatch's leadership with the Trade Preferences 
Extension Act of 2015, we expanded market opportunities in developing 
countries. Once again, quoting President Kennedy, ``a rising tide lifts 
all boats.''
  When things haven't gone according to plan, Senator Hatch has worked 
effectively to strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws, including updates 
such as electronic reporting requirements to hold bad actors to account 
and to protect the health and safety of consumers for imported goods 
and services.
  Building on the passage of the American Manufacturing Competitiveness 
Act of 2016, Chairman Hatch also led the way to further reduce trade 
barriers, boost economic benefits, and foster competition for U.S. 
businesses, our services providers, and our manufacturers. The 
Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2017 untangles the burdensome redtape 
of interagency petitions and enforcement that can make or break a 
business due to unfair trade shenanigans. It strengthens transparency 
and fairness to help American manufacturers and their workers compete 
for business. In a nutshell, this law helps U.S. businesses simply to 
stay in business.
  At the end of the day, all of what I said are things, among others, 
that fuel the U.S. economy--the opportunity to compete for every sale 
in every market.
  Senator Hatch will leave behind a remarkable legacy and a very big 
gavel. From one public servant to another, Senator Hatch, I am grateful 
for your service. You have an impeccable record and a long list of 
achievements that lift the tide for generations to come. Thank you for 
all you have done for your State, for your country, and for this 
institution of the Senate.
  To my dear friend, from the bottom of our hearts, Barbara, my wife, 
and I are grateful for your friendship and wish you well for the 
future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President pro tempore, the Senator from 
Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I want to thank my dear colleague from 
Iowa. He is one of the greatest Senators I have served with. He is just 
a wonderful friend and a wonderful Senator. He has worked his tail off 
the whole time he has been here. I am grateful for his kind words. It 
means a great deal to me.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Thank you.
  Mr. HATCH. Thank you so much.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hoeven). The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I have the great pleasure today to talk 
about a friend. It is a bittersweet moment because that friend is 
choosing not to stay with us here in the Senate. He didn't run for 
reelection. He is going back home to Utah, but I want to take a minute 
to talk about his incredible accomplishments here as a public servant 
over a 42-year career--over 4 decades here in the Senate.
  Some people come here because they want to be somebody. Orrin Hatch 
came here because he wanted to do something for people, and boy, he has 
done that. Time after time, he has stepped up to serve the American 
people.
  When Senator Hatch retires, the Senate will be losing not only our 
President pro tempore--that means that he is fourth in line to be 
President, and he is the President pro tempore here of the Senate, the 
most senior Member--but we are also going to lose somebody who, over 
the years, has been a mentor for a lot of us because he is a person who 
is committed to legislating, to making a difference in the lives of the 
people of Utah and the people of our great country. He has been a 
Statesman. At a time of bare-knuckle politics, isn't it nice to have 
that model? That is Orrin Hatch.
  Back in 1976, a blue-collar kid from Pennsylvania, who had been a 
card-carrying union member, of which he is proud, and later went to law 
school and in Salt Lake City became a successful litigation attorney, 
decided to run for the Senate. He was running against a 3-term 
incumbent. Normally, that is not a recipe for success, but he had a 
rare and impressive victory for a first-time candidate, and he hasn't 
looked back since.
  When he got elected, I think he probably was a little surprised, but 
he also realized that he owed something to the people of Utah. That was 
to put his nose to the grindstone and make a difference for them, and 
that is what he has done.
  They say he has sponsored more bills that have become law than any 
other living Member of Congress. He might even have that record for any 
Member of Congress but, certainly, for those of us who are still 
around.
  He is the former chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions Committee, also called the HELP Committee, and the former 
chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Currently, he is the 
chairman of the all-powerful Senate Finance Committee. I say that 
somewhat jokingly, but, truly, that committee has jurisdiction over 
such a broad range of issues, all of which Senator Hatch has touched. I 
have gotten to work with him on a lot of those issues over the years, 
when I was on the Ways and Means Committee in the House and now on the 
Senate Finance Committee. We have worked together on tax reform, on 
anti-drug legislation, on pension legislation, on healthcare 
legislation, on intellectual property legislation, and on so much more.

  I also had the honor of working very closely with him when I was U.S. 
Trade Representative because the Senate Finance Committee handles trade 
matters. He was always extremely involved and engaged in expanding the 
opportunities for U.S. workers and farmers to sell their products 
abroad. With a slew of achievements to highlight, it is his most recent 
accomplishment that I want to talk about very briefly, and that is the 
devotion he gave to tax reform.
  Remember, it had been 31 years since we had had any significant tax 
reform in this body. Then, a couple of years ago, Orrin Hatch said: Do 
you know what? We are going to do this. He set up a bunch of working 
groups, and they were bipartisan. I cochaired one of them with Senator 
Schumer, who is now the Democratic leader. He said: Let's go to work on 
this thing.

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  Frankly, a lot of people didn't give him much of a chance. Why? It 
had been tried previously in those 31 years, and it had been 
unsuccessful. Then, here we were in this partisan atmosphere. How could 
it possibly succeed?
  He kept at it, and he shepherded through the process what, I think, 
is historic tax reform and what I know is helping the people I 
represent. It is helping small businesses, and it is helping American 
workers. It is helping to give people opportunities that they would not 
otherwise have had.
  It had been 31 years. Think about that. Back then, Senator Hatch was 
a second-term Senator. Pete Rose still played for the Cincinnati Reds. 
Ronald Reagan was President of the United States.
  After 31 years, it was probably a good idea to update the Tax Code, 
and he did that. It is pro-growth. It is resulting in more investment 
in people and equipment and jobs. As a result, I believe you see this 
expansion of our economy out there. I think it is the biggest single 
reason for it.
  Wages are finally going up for the first time, really, in a decade 
and a half, and families have just a little more cash to spend for 
their Christmas shopping, for their retirements, for their healthcare, 
for their kids and grandkids. That is exactly what Senator Hatch 
intended when we crafted that new law, and that is a heck of a capstone 
for an amazing career.
  I am also, though, very grateful for his work in other areas--in 
protecting religious freedom, in encouraging technological innovation, 
in focusing a lot on the tech community and how we can help here in 
Congress to either provide legislation that helps them to be 
successful, which has encouraged this economic growth we have seen in 
this country over the last several decades, or to get out of the way, 
when necessary, to ensure that technology can continue to be at the 
cutting edge here in the United States.
  He has even helped songwriters. Now, some might think that is selfish 
of him because he is a songwriter himself, but he did it because he 
realized that songwriters deserved to get a responsible return and to 
be able to protect their intellectual property that they had embedded 
in their music and in their videos. So he has been a hero to the folks 
in the music industry as a result.
  By the way, he is not done. This week, next week, and the week after, 
Senator Hatch is and will be leading a bipartisan effort with Senator 
Brown to save the multiemployer pension system. Folks, this is not a 
task that people take on because it is fun. It is difficult. It is 
difficult on substance, and it is difficult on politics. Who is back in 
the lead? Orrin Hatch, as cochair of this select committee, which this 
Congress formed to finally come up with a way to keep these pensions 
from going under, to keep the government entity that ensures the 
pensions, which is called the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or 
PBGC, from going under, and, ultimately, to ensure that our economy and 
thousands of businesses will not be impacted so negatively, because we 
are going to lose a lot of businesses, and we are going to lose the 
ability to provide people with their hard-earned retirement money 
unless we fix this system.
  Once again, he is in the lead and is trying not to do something that 
is good for him or good for him politically but something that is good 
for our country that he knows has to be done. In my view, Orrin Hatch 
epitomizes what it means to be a public servant and to be a servant 
leader because he does it through leadership. He doesn't have to give 
speeches on civility; he practices it.
  Over the years, for me, he has been a model of a serious legislator--
one focused on delivering results. Perhaps, most importantly, he is a 
gentleman. He is a gentleman who treats everybody with respect--
everybody. Regardless of your political focus, regardless of who you 
are in this place or what your station in life is, Orrin Hatch treats 
you with respect and dignity.
  Despite all of these legislative accomplishments during his more than 
four decades in the Senate, what is he the most proud of? His family. I 
know that. I got to know his son early on when we worked together as 
lawyers in the first Bush White House. This was about 30 years ago. He 
and Elaine, his wife, have been together now for more than 60 years. 
They have 6 children, 23 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. 
Now, that 24 might have increased since I started talking--I don't 
know--but he has a lot of them.
  Even as he retires as the President pro tempore of this body, I know 
he is going to stay busy with the Hatch Foundation, and, folks, he is 
going to stay busy with that growing family. Shepherding tax reform 
will be nothing compared to shepherding 47 grandchildren and great-
grandchildren this holiday season.
  Orrin Hatch, we thank you for what you have done for your State and 
your country. I know I speak on behalf of this body as a whole when I 
say that the impact you have had during your time here in the Senate 
has been one that has made all of us better by being around you and has 
made this country better. I am grateful for having had the opportunity 
to work with you as a colleague, and I look forward to the pleasure of 
our continuing friendship. Enjoy your retirement, Orrin. It is well-
deserved. Godspeed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I thank my dear colleague for his kind 
remarks. I didn't expect them. I didn't realize this was going on until 
a few minutes ago. So I am grateful to him. Thanks for that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to say a few words 
about a colleague, a friend, a mentor, and a man whom I admire very, 
very much and for whom I have so much respect, my colleague Senator 
Hatch.
  In Pennsylvania, as in many States, along the sides of the roads in 
various towns, you often see these commemorating plaques of 
historically significant places. In Pennsylvania, there are these that 
are of beautiful cast aluminum. They are painted blue, and there is 
gold lettering. They tell you something unique about little boroughs, 
towns, villages, or sometimes sights in big cities all across the 
Commonwealth.
  There is such a commemoration at the house at which Betsy Ross made 
the first American flag. There is a marker that signifies the spot at 
which President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. There is the site 
of the first World Series in Pittsburgh, PA.
  Now, I am not a member of the commission that makes the decision 
about these things, but if I were, I think you could make a great case 
for a current and unique Pennsylvania success story. Many of my 
colleagues already know that Chairman Hatch is actually a son of 
Pennsylvania. He began with very humble roots in the great city of 
Pittsburgh, PA, where he attended McGibney Elementary School and grew 
up in a hardscrabble neighborhood.
  He developed an amazing tenacity, which we have all seen and come to 
know, that has stayed with him to this day. As a matter of fact, my 
understanding is that the tenacity started at an early age. I 
understand there was a season during which a young Orrin Hatch, on the 
Baldwin High basketball team, managed to foul out 15 times in 1 season. 
A pretty tough and tenacious guy on the basketball court he was. Yet he 
was not just a good athlete.
  The city of Pittsburgh helped to nurture in Orrin Hatch his love for 
music. He was a regular attendee at, among other things, the Pittsburgh 
Symphony Orchestra at the old Syria Mosque in Oakland, which I like to 
think contributed a little bit to his lifelong love of music.
  He was a hard-working guy from the beginning. In high school, Orrin 
Hatch worked his summers as a wood lather, and he was a card-carrying 
member of the AFL-CIO. The modest income he earned from that job helped 
to put him through school.
  Yet, if you had to pick one place to put the marker that would be 
calling attention to this wonderful son of Pennsylvania, it might 
actually be a chicken coop in the Pittsburgh area because, while he was 
struggling to make ends meet right after college, Orrin Hatch renovated 
the chicken coop in his parents' backyard, and he turned it into a 
little two-room cottage. That is where he lived with his young family. 
That is where they scraped by while he was attending the University of 
Pittsburgh School of Law on a scholarship.
  The future Chairman Hatch graduated from that law school. He 
practiced law in Pittsburgh for 7 years and

[[Page S7115]]

was recognized as a formidable attorney in Pittsburgh, in Western 
Pennsylvania, before leaving for Utah, where he would ultimately launch 
what then looked to be improbable but would turn into being this 
enormously successful career in government.
  Of course, the challenge, if you were going to put one of these 
markers up is this: What would you say? There is just so much to say 
about Chairman Hatch. It is hard to encapsulate his success in this 
body, certainly on a marker or even in a speech, but let me try to 
touch on a few of the high points.
  It is amazing how long he has been so accomplished in this great 
body. Before I had even graduated from college, Senator Hatch had 
already worked to successfully pass one of the initiatives for which he 
has become well-known.
  In medicine, as the Presiding Officer knows, we have a term called 
orphan conditions. This really refers to very rare diseases, diseases 
that afflict fewer than 200,000 Americans. While they are narrow in the 
scope of any particular disease, cumulatively, they do affect quite a 
significant number of Americans. They are conditions like cystic 
fibrosis, multiple myeloma, and ALS. Because any one of these orphan 
conditions affects relatively few people, the economics of developing a 
treatment for one really didn't work. From 1973 to 1983, the FDA 
actually only approved 10 orphan therapies over 10 years for all of the 
hundreds and hundreds of orphan diseases that had afflicted millions of 
people cumulatively.
  Senator Hatch recognized this problem. As chairman of the Committee 
on Labor and Human Resources, which was the predecessor to the HELP 
Committee, Senator Hatch worked across the Chambers and across the 
aisle with Representative Henry Waxman. In 1983, they passed the Orphan 
Drug Act, which increased the incentives for developing drugs for these 
rare but, really, problematic conditions.
  Since that time, there have literally been hundreds and hundreds of 
orphan products that have been approved and have come on the market. 
While that law has been updated over the years to reflect the changing 
technology and changing dynamics in medicine, the fact is the Orphan 
Drug Act that Senator Hatch authored as a relatively new Senator has 
undoubtedly made a profound difference in saving lives and in improving 
the quality of life for millions of Americans who previously had little 
or no hope. It was a very, very big deal.
  The very next year, Chairman Hatch achieved the passage of another 
really monumental law in the healthcare space. It is officially called 
the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, but 
everybody around here simply refers to it as Hatch-Waxman. This is the 
legislation that really laid the foundation for the generic drug 
industry that we see today.
  Really, when you think about it, this has been an astonishing--
really, revolutionary--innovation that has been enormously helpful for 
American consumers. If you go back to 1984, only about 19 percent of 
all of the drugs that were dispensed in America were generic, and over 
80 percent were branded drugs. That is important because branded drugs 
are vastly more expensive than generic drugs. By 2017, largely as a 
result of the legislation that Senator Hatch authored, that dynamic had 
completely flipped. In fact, it had more than flipped. By 2017, branded 
drugs are less than 15 percent of all of the drugs dispensed, and 
generic drugs, the low-cost alternative, are over 85 percent of all the 
drugs dispensed in America. This one change alone results in saving 
American families billions of dollars a year on their healthcare costs.

  The list of Senator Hatch's accomplishments is a very, very long one, 
and I couldn't go through all of it. I couldn't begin to. Again, just 
to touch on some of the other big ones, there is the creation of the 
Children's Health Insurance Program and the passage of the Dietary 
Supplement Health and Education Act. All of this happened before I got 
to the Senate, some many years ago.
  Then, in 2010, I was elected to the Senate, and I had this wonderful 
privilege shortly thereafter of working on the Senate Finance Committee 
with Senator Hatch as our chairman and our leader. It was a privilege 
for me, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is, I had a chance 
to see up close, in person, and firsthand his leadership style and how 
effective he is. He is a role model for anyone who wants to have a 
successful career as a U.S. Senator.
  He was tremendously productive on his work to repeal Medicare's 
flawed sustainable growth rate, which, year after year, plagued 
healthcare. There seemed to be no solution, but Senator Hatch figured 
that out. He was principally responsible for crafting and passing the 
CHRONIC Care Act. Anybody in the Senate could learn a lot from his 
focus on oversight of our Nation's foster care system, as well as his 
role in shaping the Finance Committee's response to the prescription 
drug abuse and the opioid crisis. It is a very, very long list of 
really, really important reforms and innovations in healthcare, but it 
is not just healthcare.
  What I think will probably be one of Senator Hatch's most lasting 
legacies is the leadership he provided to make it possible for all of 
us to pass the most comprehensive tax reform in over 30 years.
  Our Tax Code was broken for a long time. Without Senator Hatch's 
leadership of the Finance Committee, it would still be broken today. 
Instead, he helped us to take an outdated, uncompetitive Tax Code and 
transform it into a competitive, progrowth Tax Code, bringing down our 
corporate rate to 21 percent, reversing the trend of companies moving 
headquarters abroad, reforming our international tax rules to encourage 
investment domestically, and allowing businesses to immediately write 
off capital investment. That already has and will continue to lead to a 
surge of investment, which enhances worker productivity, which is a 
necessary precondition for wage growth, which we are now seeing. These 
are the fruits of Senator Hatch's labors.
  He insisted that we lower taxes at every income level so virtually 
all Americans save on their Federal tax bill, and the result has led to 
the strongest economy in over a decade and, by many measures, much 
longer than that.
  Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high. For the first time that I 
know of in American history, we have more job openings in America than 
there are people looking for jobs. Unemployment benefit claims are 
hitting a 45-year low. In fact, unemployment is the lowest it has been 
since 1969. These are unbelievable numbers. African-American 
unemployment is at an alltime record low. Hispanic unemployment is at a 
record low. Youth unemployment is at a 50-year low. As a result of all 
of this demand for workers, average hourly earnings are rising at the 
highest year-over-year increase in a decade. That story is true and was 
made possible by Senator Hatch.
  It was roughly 50 years ago when the Hatch family left Pennsylvania 
for Utah. That was our loss. It is a big gain for Utah. They gained a 
great man, a good man, and a future statesman. I will insist that the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania deserves to take a lot of pride in having 
contributed, at least in helping to shape this good, kind, decent, 
honorable, and extremely influential man and his life.
  I want to give my personal thanks to Senator Hatch for his leadership 
and for the fact that he has been such a good and honorable man. He 
enhances the reputation of this body, and he has set a great example 
for all of us to follow.
  I wish my friend and mentor a very long and happy retirement.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I just can't express my gratitude for the 
kindness of my dear friend from Pennsylvania. This means so much to me. 
I didn't even realize it was going to happen. I hustled over here, and 
there it was.
  I say to the Senator, I am grateful to you, and I am grateful for the 
kind remarks you have made. I couldn't have asked for more. It was so 
decent of you, as you always exhibit. You are a great Senator, and I 
really appreciate your support here today. Thank you so much.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I would like to thank the senior Senator 
from

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Utah who is retiring at the end of this session of Congress.
  Senator Hatch has faithfully served the public for 40 years in the 
U.S. Senate, constantly using the interface of public policy and the 
free market to find the best outcome for the American citizen.
  If the responsibility of Congress is to pass legislation that 
improves the lives of Americans, Senator Hatch has met this 
responsibility. As two examples, when I was a doctor--before entering 
politics--treating patients, Senator Hatch helped me take better care 
of my patients. Let me give these examples: The Hatch-Waxman Act 
leveraged the free market to increase the availability of generic 
drugs, which means more affordable medicines. The second example I will 
give is the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, creating the Children's Health 
Insurance Program, also known as CHIP, which gave greater access to 
healthcare for Americans in need. That benefited me as a doctor taking 
care of my patients. As a Senator, it was an honor to work with him 
this past year to reauthorize the CHIP program and to continue efforts 
to make prescription drugs more affordable.
  On a personal note, shortly after joining the Finance Committee, 
Chairman Hatch sent me a letter welcoming me to the committee and 
making his office available to help in any way his office could.
  If there is a defining characteristic of Senator Hatch, it is that he 
listens. Whether it is to fellow Senators, the people of Utah, or the 
people of the United States, Senator Hatch listens and works to find a 
mutually beneficial outcome.
  This happened when the Federal Government came after the Volks 
construction company in Prairieville, LA, for a record violation 
occurring well beyond the government's legal authority. The District of 
Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in and unanimously ruled to 
stop the government overreach, but the Obama administration issued a 
rule to permit the practice, despite the DC Circuit Court ruling. 
Knowing this was an important issue for companies in my State, as well 
as in the rest of the country, Chairman Hatch worked with me to lead 
legislation to permanently protect businesses from this kind of 
government abuse of power--again, using the free market or protecting 
the free market from government abuse.
  Another example I will give is during tax reform, when Senator Hatch 
listened to colleagues' concerns and ideas about how to improve the Tax 
Cuts and Jobs Act to give our companies the tools to succeed. The final 
product was better for it. He worked with me to strengthen and preserve 
the historic tax credit, which is instrumental in over 780 restoration 
projects in Louisiana. When you go to New Orleans and see all of these 
old buildings now shining once again in glory, they were probably 
helped by the historic tax credit, leveraging $2.5 billion in private 
investment, creating over 38,000 jobs in Louisiana alone. This is again 
marrying, if you will, the free market with public policy.
  The last issue I will mention, of the many I could, is the following: 
Since first elected, Senator Hatch has worked to help Americans in 
their retirement years by increasing access to various types of 
retirement savings plans to ensure that the widest range of people save 
for their future. His legislation gave businesses, particularly smaller 
businesses, the tools needed to offer retirement plans to workers at 
the lowest possible cost, leveraging the interface of government policy 
with the market to improve the lives of many in their retirement.
  In his tenure, he pushed for sound solutions to the pension issues 
facing State and local governments. Again, using the interface between 
government policy and the market to lower the cost of medications. To 
increase access to healthcare, he promoted the use of sound policy to 
allow the American economy to thrive. It is this work that those of us 
who remain in Congress must now pick up and continue.
  Scripture says that ``the greatest among you shall be your servant.'' 
We have been blessed to have had Senator Hatch's wisdom and leadership 
in the Senate. We have been blessed to have had his wisdom and 
leadership for our country, and we thank him for his great service to 
the people of Utah, to the people of Louisiana, and to all Americans.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am grateful to my colleagues and 
especially my colleague from Louisiana for his kind remarks on the 
floor of the U.S. Senate. It means so much to me. I want him to know 
that.
  I want the others to realize how much I appreciated their taking time 
to come to the floor and expressing their opinions about my service in 
the Senate.
  This is a difficult thing for me because I love the Senate. I love 
both sides. I love my Democratic colleagues. It is no secret that I 
have worked with both of them to bring great legislation to the floor 
of the Senate and to pass it.
  I have to say to the colleagues on my side, there isn't one of them I 
don't respect. Every one of them I have great fondness and affection 
for. I sure appreciate the Senator from Louisiana and the others who 
have spoken here today.
  I am genuinely touched by the kind words and thoughts from my 
respected colleagues, Senators Grassley, Portman, Toomey, and of course 
Cassidy. I say to them, you are all dear friends, excellent Senators, 
and I am very grateful for your comments. More than that, I am deeply 
grateful for your friendship and the impact your dedication and 
patriotism have had on me. Of course, that also holds true for all 
members of the Finance Committee with whom I have had the honor and 
privilege of serving.
  Recently, in the Finance Committee, we passed comprehensive tax 
reform, a 10-year CHIP extension, saw a health insurance protection 
extension, a critical 5-year extension of the highway trust fund, and 
TPA, along with several other trade bills. I can say with great 
confidence that most of these accomplishments would not have borne 
fruit without help from each of the Senators and many of our friends on 
the committee.
  Today marks one of the last times I will have the opportunity of 
standing before the Senate to speak on my work within the Finance 
Committee's vast jurisdiction and, of course, the fights and victories 
I have been a part of.
  While we may not have been able to close on many of these 
achievements until recently, they have all been built on hard work that 
I, other members of the committee, and the wider Senate have engaged in 
over the past few decades.
  For example, earlier this year, I was very happy to see a 10-year 
reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. 
Ten years, that is the longest CHIP extension in the history of the 
program, and I am grateful to my colleagues for it. It is a program 
that provides insurance to over 9 million children in distress a year.
  Creating CHIP was a bipartisan model of success. Senator Ted Kennedy 
and I were only able to pass CHIP the first time because we both were 
willing to cross the aisle to see this program succeed. This bipartisan 
work ethic extended to many pieces of legislation I worked on while on 
the Finance Committee.
  In 2015, we were able to renew Trade Promotion Authority, which is 
one of the most important tools Congress has that allows us to work 
hand in hand with the executive branch to advance our Nation's trade 
agenda. TPA helps to ensure our trade agreements are held to the 
highest standard.

  Not every piece of legislation I am proud of has gone through without 
a fight, though. We can't forget last winter, when I was so proud to be 
a part of shaping the historic tax reform legislation that is boosting 
economic growth today, lowering unemployment today, and spurring job 
creation today. We worked hard in the Finance Committee to fix the 
broken Tax Code and, by all accounts, it appears we did a pretty good 
job.
  This legislation was built on years and years of work in the Finance 
Committee, and I am very appreciative of my colleagues. I led the 
creation of working groups, released opinion papers and 
recommendations, and held 70 hearings on how to improve the Tax Code 
since I became the top Republican on the Finance Committee.

[[Page S7117]]

  As part of tax reform, we were also able to repeal the individual 
mandate tax, which forced Americans to buy health insurance they did 
not want or could not afford.
  These are just a few of the accomplishments I have been privileged 
enough to shepherd through during my service, and they are darn few 
compared to what we have been able to do. While I am proud of these 
accomplishments, there is always more to be done, which is why, in 
addition to thanking all my friends, colleagues and mentors throughout 
the years, I would like to share some parting words of advice that I 
have picked up through my work on the Finance Committee, and other 
committees, for those who will remain in this Chamber.
  I see these next few years as critical to the future of our country, 
to the future of our ideals, and to the future of freedom not only here 
but throughout the world. As such, I have a few suggestions I would 
like to make to my colleagues.
  First, be earnest, be honest, and guard at all times your integrity. 
If we cannot take the time to think deeply about an issue, to reason it 
out, and speak honestly among ourselves and our constituents, it will 
be impossible to enact lasting and meaningful change.
  To quote my good friend Senator Kennedy, ``Integrity is the lifeblood 
of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins.''
  That means sometimes, often when it is least convenient, we must 
speak the hard truths. That process will often lead to discord, falling 
short, or struggling for years to fix vexing problems or disagreements. 
As Winston Churchill once famously said, ``You have enemies? Good. That 
means you stood up for something, sometime in your life.''
  So have courage and act.
  Second, if you don't care who gets the credit, you will be amazed at 
what you can achieve. In politics, that can be a hard sentiment to 
swallow, but focusing on taking the credit more often than not 
undermines outcomes. Most of the pieces of legislation I am most proud 
of had dozens of cosponsors, were widely seen as bipartisan, and have 
remained on the books largely because I did not get everything I 
wanted.
  An article of my faith is, ``If there is anything virtuous, lovely, 
or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.''
  That article speaks only to the results and not at all about taking 
the credit. The more I learned to focus on that principle, the better 
off I have been.
  Finally, be grateful, be kind, and be quick to forgive. At the end of 
the day, my friends, we are all people, and people often disagree. Our 
differences may be as innumerable as our similarities, but if we start 
with the premise that every Member's intent is to improve our country 
and the life of its citizens, then our disagreements are logistical, 
not personal.
  I have always truly believed that just about every Member of this 
body wants to do the right thing for the American people, but they 
sometimes want to go about it in different ways. What we must never do 
is question a fellow Senator's dedication to their country; we must 
never question their dedication to democracy; and we should never 
disparage them personally when each of us has given so much.
  Our job in Congress is the difficult task of aggregating disparate 
preferences and molding them into laws to make people's lives better. 
That leads to what many describe as sausage making. The process 
generates heated debates and sometimes rancor. Yet I have no doubt 
about the convictions to do good on the part of all of my esteemed 
colleagues on the Finance Committee and in Congress in general. I have 
no doubt about how sincere and convicted my good colleagues really are. 
I have enjoyed everyone here.
  I have to say that if you work hard and you study hard and you open 
your mind to the other person's ideas and ideals and you are willing to 
make some changes that accommodate others and you are willing to 
realize that you don't have all the answers, then you can have a great 
time here, you can be very successful and, in the end, be able to 
retire, as I am, feeling like I have done good work here.
  I love my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I respect my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I love this country with every 
fiber of my being. I love the Constitution, which gives us freedoms 
that we all take so much for granted throughout this country. I am 
grateful for honest, decent people like all of the Senators whom I have 
served with in the U.S. Senate, both now and in the past. I am grateful 
for the Senate rules.
  I am grateful a little, scrawny U.S. Senator from Utah could lead a 
fight against an outrageous labor bill that everybody knew was wrong 
and actually win it on the floor of the Senate because of just guts and 
the ability to stand here and take the abuse. Labor law reform 
dramatically changed this country, nearly ruined our country, without 
really helping the unions.
  I was raised in the union movement. I actually held the union card I 
earned through apprenticeship, my journeyman's license. I am proud of 
that. I am proud of my union friends, but when you try to take unfair 
advantage, somebody has to stop it, and I am grateful I was given that 
assignment early on with this matter, with 62 Democrats and only 38 
Republicans. I can still remember a number of Democratic Senators 
coming up to me and saying: Hey, kid--because I was still pretty young 
then--hey, kid, you have to win this. This is bad for the country.
  And I asked them: Are you going to help me?
  And more often than not they would say: Well, I can't help you, but I 
am with you.
  There was a lot of pressure. There was a lot of effort made to try 
and stop men and women from doing what was right. If we had not won on 
labor law reform, we would have gone straight to socialism, and it 
would have been the end of this great country. We have come close a few 
other times as well.
  This is, without question, the greatest country in the world. Without 
question, this is the greatest deliberative body in the world. Without 
question, I acknowledge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as 
tremendous statesmen and women who really have been here for the right 
reasons. I am grateful I have had the opportunity of serving in this 
body, and I am grateful for the 42 years I have put in. I can't say I 
have enjoyed every one of those years, but looking back on it, I think 
I have to say that I have really enjoyed being here.
  I love my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I respect my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I want this body to continue on 
and be successful for America, not only for America but for the rest of 
the world because this is where freedom really exists. This is where 
freedom can be maintained. This is where freedom can be felt in your 
guts. I felt it. I know a lot about freedom. I know a lot about the 
U.S. Senate. I know a lot about my colleagues and the good things about 
them. I am going to remember the good things; I am not going to 
remember things that used to irritate me or wrangle me. There weren't 
many of those compared to the good nature and quality of my colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle.
  I am grateful for this body. I am going to miss it terribly. I think 
there comes a time when you really ought to hang it up, not because I 
can't do this work anymore--I sure can--but because I worked hard to 
get a worthy successor, and Mitt Romney is going to be that. He is an 
outstanding human being. He is an honest, decent, morally upright human 
being. I think he will work hard and be a great asset to the U.S. 
Senate. He will not have the seniority I have as the most senior 
Republican in the U.S. Senate, but he has a lot of things going for 
him, and I suspect he will make a great addition to the U.S. Senate. 
Knowing that he was willing to run, having chatted with him and talking 
to him about running, I feel really decent about wrapping it up and 
saying not goodbye, but I will be watching. I will be praying for you. 
I will be doing everything in my power to support both Houses of 
Congress in this, the greatest country in the world, with the greatest 
set of legal principles the world has ever known and I think with the 
greatest people we have ever known.
  So with that, I express my gratitude to the U.S. Senate, to my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle, both presently in the Senate and 
those who have gone on to other worlds. I personally express gratitude 
to everyone here because virtually everyone has shown me great favor 
and great kindness.

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  When I came here, I came here to fight Senator Kennedy because I 
thought he was too liberal and that he was not a good Senator. I don't 
think he had passed really any legislation when I got here. I don't 
think he did until I became chairman of the committee, but he was a 
great legislator, and he did have an awful lot to say on his side. I 
think he would be the first, if he were alive today, to say we finally 
talked it out together, decided to work together, decided to accomplish 
things together, decided to stand together. When we were in battles, 
they were really hard-fought battles, but they were battles on 
principle, for the most part.
  I have to say I am grateful for the experiences I have had in the 
Senate with virtually every Senator who has been in the Senate. In all 
of my years of being here, I have to say I have love for every one of 
the Senators who has served here. There are a couple I have less love 
for, but by and large I even have love for them.
  These folks in this Senate are really good people. They care about 
the country. They care about trying to do what is right. They are 
willing to fight for their principles, and they can be worked with. I 
challenge my colleagues to work together with the best interests of 
this country. If you will, this country is going to go on and be a 
very, very happy, prosperous, and successful country.
  I will end by saying I am so grateful for the privilege of being in 
this body for 42 years and knowing all of you, including our clerical 
workers, our stenographers, and, of course, the Parliamentarians, 
Secretaries, and all of the people affiliated with the U.S. Senate. No 
wonder it is the greatest deliberative body in the world.
  With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.