Orrin Hatch: “often here in Washington, it can be difficult to focus on what counts. We live in an information environment which is…”

“often here in Washington, it can be difficult to focus on what counts. We live in an information environment which is increasingly atomized and persistently polarized. Almost all will inevitably focus on who is up and who is down in the endless cycle of partisan gamesmanship. News cycles come and news cycles go. Poll numbers jump, then fall, then jump again, and fall again, but nobody should forget that what really matters around here, at the end of the day, is policy, and the first year of unified Republican government has delivered plenty of that. In 2016, the American people faced a stark choice. The Republicans promised a new era of deregulation and limited government--a new policy approach that would entrust free markets and free citizens to drive us forward. The Democrats, on the other hand, renewed and restated their faith in the effectiveness of government, centered here in Washington, to direct and command the national welfare. The American people spoke loudly, and they spoke decisively. The Republicans were given the reins and were instructed to sort all of this out. Nobody needs to remind me that elections are the beginning of the challenge, not the end. The Republicans may have prevailed in the campaign, but an election won is nothing more than an opportunity seized. It is nothing more than a charge to carry out the promises offered on the trail, and that is precisely what we are doing.…”