Senator Orrin Hatch
Utah
Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976
As Utah's senator, Orrin Hatch has continued to stand by those principles that earned him his Senate seat in 1976. He has continually fought an expanding federal bureaucracy and has been at the forefront of the battle against burdensome and costly federal regulations.
As the most senior Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch is a leader in the fight for tougher anti-crime laws, civil justice reform to unclog the courts, and legislation to protect individual property rights. He also takes an active role in the confirmation of all judicial nominations, including justices of the Supreme Court, and has a direct impact on such issues as civil rights, immigration, antitrust and consumer protection, and issues related to the Constitution.
Senator Hatch is also the 2nd Ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Finance, where the Senator has been a leading advocate for policies to encourage savings and investment, such as the Capital Formation Act of 1997, as well as many other pro-growth tax bills. He also played a key part in enacting the welfare reform bill, known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. He was particularly involved in the provisions relating to state training prerogatives and child care.
Now in his fifth term as Utah's senator, Orrin Hatch has championed a variety of legislative causes. Among his many achievements and initiatives are the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, the religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Omnibus Property Rights Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty act, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, home health care, the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act, the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, FDA reform, the Orphan Drug Act, the Ryan White AIDS Care legislation, which provides needed services for adults and children afflicted with HIV, the Job Training Partnership Act, designation of the Mormon Trail, the Utah School Trust Lands Exchange Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) for the Utah down winders.
Senator Hatch is also a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. He also has the honor of serving on the Board of Directors for the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.