On the recordDecember 12, 2018
it is with mixed emotions that I stand today to honor my friend, my colleague, and my mentor, the senior Senator, the Senator from Utah, Orrin Hatch. This year marks the end of an outstanding 42-year tenure serving the people of Utah in the U.S. Senate. In that time, Senator Hatch has made an indelible mark on our State, on the U.S. Senate, and on this Nation. People who follow Washington politics closely know, of course, what he has meant to this institution and also to his party, to his State, and to the Republic. But for those of us from Utah, Orrin Hatch is more than just a prominent name in the news; he is a towering political figure, not only of his generation but also of the generations that have come along in his wake and that will follow. Many Utahns can't remember a time before Orrin Hatch was serving, leading, and speaking out for us in Washington. One of the great privileges of my young life was the opportunity to serve as his page when I was a teenager. He was then, as now, one of the leaders of the Senate--not only a political role model but a role model, period; outspoken but always thoughtful; honest but always gentle; tough when he had to be and kind even when he didn't have to be. One of my fondest memories of Senator Hatch was something that occurred a couple of years after I was his page. I was maybe 18 years old or so.…
