[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 67 (Monday, April 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Remembering Orrin G. Hatch

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, as the Senate convenes today, we are 
mourning the loss of our dear friend and legendary former colleague, 
Orrin Hatch.
  When Senator Hatch retired 3 years ago, this body lost its longest 
serving Republican and its President pro tem. We also lost one of the 
kindest and best humored colleagues any of us had ever served with and, 
for that matter, the Senate's only former band manager of a Mormon folk 
music group.
  Orrin Hatch led an incredibly full, interesting, and accomplished 
life. By the end of his tenure, our very funny colleague liked to poke 
fun at his own longevity. I remember when Orrin, a former Judiciary 
Committee chairman, would pretend to wistfully recall his work on 
Justice Joseph Story's confirmation back in 1811.
  Humor aside, the reality was impressive enough. Orrin's dogged 
service for Utah and our Nation was a constant in this Chamber for 42 
years. He was an accomplished, influential chairman of three major 
committees: HELP, Judiciary, and Finance. He was an essential 
legislator behind a long list of landmark laws--from the Hatch-Waxman 
law on generic drugs in the 1980s to the Americans with Disabilities 
Act, to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the State Children's 
Health Insurance Program--all back in the 1990s--all the way through to 
the historic 2017 tax reform that Orrin shepherded as Finance chairman. 
That helped engineer the best economic moment for American workers and 
families in modern history. There were also countless specific 
achievements for the great State of Utah that Orrin loved so much.
  Amid all that legislative heavy lifting, Orrin was also a pivotal 
player concerning the Senate's part in the personnel business. 
Amazingly, at the time of Orrin's retirement, he had personally 
participated in the confirmations for more than half--half--of all the 
article III judges who had ever served in American history.
  Orrin came into the Senate as a young, conservative firebrand. His 
first campaign for any public office of any kind was the 1976 campaign 
that landed him here. He left the Senate as a widely admired and 
universally liked elder statesman. His legacy is peppered with both 
big, principled victories, bipartisan collaborations, and a roster of 
friends that spanned the entire political spectrum and sometimes 
transcended politics altogether.
  But there was never any confusing what Orrin viewed as his proudest 
accomplishment of all. That would be his remarkable marriage to Elaine 
and their loving family. Alphabetical order has perhaps never served 
any man better than when ``Hatch, Orrin'' was assigned the chair next 
to ``Hansen, Elaine'' in a Brigham Young University classroom. Decades 
later, Orrin said, ``I can't remember a doggone thing from that 
astronomy class,'' but the two of them got 65 inspiring years of 
marriage and a big, happy brood of kids and grandkids out of the 
bargain.
  So, today, the entire Senate stands with Elaine, the Hatch family, 
and the huge, huge network of friends, former staffers, and admirers 
whom Orrin leaves behind across Utah and across our country. We mourn 
this great loss, and we honor this great life.