Orrin Hatch

[[File:Orrin_Hatch_official_photo,_2015.jpg|thumb|165px|Rumors that Orrin Hatch was in fact a cheap CGI effect are at this time unconfirmed.]]{{uspolitics}}
'''Orrin Hatch''' {{lived|1934|2022}} was the senior [[United States]] [[senator]] for [[Utah]], the longest-serving [[Republican]] senator (42 years) until {{wpl|Chuck Grassley}} took the title a few years later, and {{wpl|President pro tempore of the United States Senate|president pro tempore}} of the [[US Senate]] from 2015 to 2019.<ref>http://www.sltrib.com/news/1787743-155/hatch-senate-presidency-president-sen-chamber</ref> That meant that he would've become [[POTUS]] if [[Donald Trump|Trump]] and [[Mike Pence|Pence]] and [[Paul Ryan|Ryan]] were ''simultaneously'' given the boot.

==Utahn of the Year==
In 2017, Hatch was given the ''dishonor'' of being the "Utahn of the Year" by the ''Salt Lake Tribune''. He earned the dishonor for:<ref>[http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/editorial/2017/12/25/tribune-editorial-why-orrin-hatch-is-utahn-of-the-year/ Tribune Editorial: Why Orrin Hatch is Utahn of the Year] (December 26, 2017) ''Salt Lake Tribune''.</ref>
{{cquote|
*Hatch’s part in the dramatic dismantling of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
*His role as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in passing a major overhaul of the nation’s tax code.
*His utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power.}}
Hatch was dimwitted enough to say that he was grateful for the "honor".<ref>[http://archive.is/P93rm Grateful for this great Christmas honor from the Salt Lake Tribune. For the record, I voted for @SpencerJCox and @rudygobert27. #utpol] by Orrin Hatch (11:25 AM - 25 Dec 2017) ''Twitter'' (archived from 27 Dec 2017 08:09:24 UTC).</ref> Apparently, he hadn't read the editorial that explained the "honor", just like he hadn't read the tax bill that he supported.

==Positions==
===2016 election===
In the [[2016 United States presidential election]], he first endorsed [[Jeb Bush|Jeb!]] for president. Unfortunately, Jeb! dropped out and Hatch changed his endorsement to [[Marco Rubio]]. He also dropped out. Finally, Hatch settled on Donald Trump<ref>http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279726-gop-sen-hatch-endorses-trump</ref> and appears to have maintained his support through part of the [[Unite the Right]] controversy,<ref>https://www.newsmax.com/Politics/orrin-hatch-donald-trump-not-racist-charlottesville/2017/08/17/id/808158/</ref> though he later criticized Trump for his comment about violence on "[[Balance fallacy|both sides]]."<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/13/republicans-stand-up-to-trump-over-charlottesville-comments-241593</ref>

===Counter-terrorism===
{{main|War on Terror}}
Hatch was somewhat hawkish on intelligence issues, having been instrumental in the passage of the {{wpl|Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996||.}} Additionally, he supported the {{wpl|Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008|2008 FISA amendments}} that increased the reach of the government's ability to conduct surveillance measures that would otherwise have been considered illegal.<ref>http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.View&PressRelease_id=0d432a46-1b78-be3e-e0e4-97855ddb539b</ref>

===LGBT rights===
{{main|LGBT rights}}
In 1977, Hatch made the [[Homophobia|egregious comment]] that he "wouldn't want to see [[homosexuality|homosexuals]] teaching [[school]] any more than [he'd] want to see members of the [[Neo-Nazism|American Nazi Party]] teaching school." He did, however, rescind this statement, at the very least.<ref>http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53392378-78/hatch-office-1977-orrin.html.csp</ref> He also [[Stopped clock|supported a judge]] who later ended up overturning the Utah [[law]] against [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/30/us/utah-ruling-on-marriage-puts-judge-in-spotlight.html?_r=0</ref> In 2013, he said that gay marriage undermined the "very basis of marital law" but would support [[civil union]]s for gay couples.<ref>https://www.advocate.com/politics/politicians/2013/04/08/utah-sen-orrin-hatch-comes-out-civil-unions</ref> He also voted for the {{wpl|Employment Non-Discrimination Act}} that gave additional workplace protections to LGBT people.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57610788/employment-non-discrimination-act-enda-makes-progress-in-the-senate/</ref> Overall, he wasn't amazingly supportive of LGBT rights, but he wasn't the [[Michele Bachmann|absolute]] [[Bobby Jindal|worst]] [[Rick Santorum|you]] [[Sarah Palin|could]] [[Mike Pence|do]] in terms of Republican politicians. He may of been getting a bit better, though, as can be seen in his [http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/343881-hatch-stands-with-transgender-utahns|public statements in July 2017] regarding the Trump administration's attempted ban on trans people serving in the military.

===Environment===
Hatch was one of the senators who urged President Trump to withdraw from the {{wpl|Paris Agreement}} on [[climate change]].<ref>https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/download/?id=E1E34574-5655-42AA-92E8-0D23DC8C33BA&download=1</ref>

===Immigration===
{{main|Illegal immigration}}
His record was somewhat mixed on immigration. On one hand, he supported tighter controls on the southern border of the [[US]] and has pushed some more-conservative immigration bills,<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/01/06/orrin-hatch-put-a-conservative-immigration-bill-on-the-the-agenda/</ref> but he was also a proponent of the {{wpl|DREAM Act||,}}<ref>https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/senate-bill/01291</ref> which tries to help the [[children]] of [[illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]] obtain a good [[education]]. He also criticized President Trump's ban on [[Islam|Muslims]].<ref>http://fortune.com/2017/01/29/donald-trump-immigration-ban-republicans/</ref>

In June 2018, he and other Utah politicians made statements opposing the Trump administration's practice of separating children from their families.<ref>http://kuer.org/post/utah-politicians-decry-trumps-horrible-family-separation-policy</ref>

===Dietary supplements===
{{main|1=Herbal supplement|3=Vitamin and mineral supplements}}
Hatch was in large part responsible for the current state of affairs in the US dietary supplement industry. In response to a [[lobbying]] and [[PR]] onslaught, Senators Hatch and [[Tom Harkin]] (D-[[Iowa]]) cosponsored the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994. At the time, Utah was a major producer of nutritional supplements, eventually reportedly becoming the number 1 industry in Utah by 2012.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150709225311/http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Markets/Dietary-supplements-become-Utah-s-1-industry-topping-7.2-billion Dietary supplements become Utah’s #1 industry, topping $7.2 billion] by Stephen Daniells (23-May-2012 Last updated on 23-May-2012 at 17:18 GMT) ''Nutra ingredients-USA'' (Archive.org, 2015)</ref>

===Term limits===
In 1976, when Hatch first ran for the US Senate, he criticized his Democratic opponent Frank Moss, the incumbent three-term senator: "What do you call a Senator who's served in office for 18 years? You call him home." However, he himself would serve ''seven'' terms and was even considering an eighth term, but in the end decided not to run again.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/utah-republican-sen-orrin-hatch-retire-romney-could-run-n834091</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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Categories: Former United States Senators, Lawyers, Mormons, Musicians, United States politicians, United States presidential candidates