Heidi Alexander: “if the Senator from Utah has concluded his remarks, I would like to say a word or two. We have just passed in the Senate…”

“if the Senator from Utah has concluded his remarks, I would like to say a word or two. We have just passed in the Senate a bill that is named the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act. It was an amendment I had offered to the bill, not Senator Hatch's amendment. He is the principal sponsor of the bill, along with Senator Whitehouse and 82 Members of this body, but I ask that it be named in his honor. It is fitting because it is the most important piece of legislation in a generation to help make sure songwriters in our country are paid and are paid a fair market value for their work. It is fitting because Senator Hatch is a songwriter himself and has long been an advocate for musicians. So I can think of no better way to memorialize his four decades of service in the U.S. Senate than by renaming this legislation the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act. Under his leadership, as I just mentioned, the bill gained nearly unanimous support in the Senate. It passed in the House earlier. After its having been thoroughly vetted and compromised and changed, it passed unanimously. It went to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was considered and passed by voice vote. Then, tonight, it passed by voice vote.…”