Orrin Hatch: “the prospect of retirement has imbued me with a sense of urgency as I have never felt it before. With just a few months…”

“the prospect of retirement has imbued me with a sense of urgency as I have never felt it before. With just a few months left in office, I have an ambitious agenda that I am committed to getting across the finish line, and with the passage of this year's spending bill, I am grateful to be several steps closer to that goal. In my first Senate address after announcing that this term would be my last, I made clear my intentions for my final year in office. I promised to be on the Senate floor, early and often, pushing the most critical reforms of this Congress, and I have been. I promised a flurry of legislative activity from my office, and you have seen it. Anyone who wants to count me out doesn't know that I have a dedicated staff determined to drive this old workhorse into the ground, and with the passage of this year's omnibus, our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. True to my promise in January to go big and to go bold, I have been hard at work over the last few weeks to include in this year's spending package a number of legislative priorities that will make a meaningful difference for millions of Americans. I wish to thank the majority leader, the majority whip, the Speaker of the House, and their respective staffs for going extra lengths to help me attach several of these signature initiatives to the bill we will soon pass.…”