The Public Record
Orrin Hatch was a prominent American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hatch was known for his extensive work on a variety of issues, including healthcare, tax reform, and intellectual property rights. Throughout his tenure, he played a significant role in shaping legislation and was involved in numerous bipartisan efforts.
I wonder sometimes if we do not treat the American public like they are idiots, when in fact the American public is a very smart collective group of people. I just do not see why in the world we have to have government interfere with the…
the second amendment we are considering, No. 1183, will encourage the prompt and complete reporting of potentially vital public health information to the FDA. Essentially, my proposal codifies a rule that already applies to drugs and…
the Hatch-Wyden amendment, number 1182, modifies FDA's mission statement contained in S. 830. For the first time, this legislation puts into statute a mission statement for the Food and Drug Administration. Because of its important public…
there is an old saying, ``No good deed goes unpunished.'' And it applies only too well to those who tackle the job of shepherding the FDA legislation through Congress. The legislation we are debating today has its foundation in the last…
I would like to discuss a matter related to the pending legislation in that it concerns a study commissioned by the Bureau of Land Management. As my colleagues know, last September, President Clinton invoked the authority granted under the…
I rise today to praise my good friend Senator Slade Gorton for his efforts in putting together this important legislation. It is particularly important to my state, where over 70 percent of our land is owned or managed by the Federal…
I am proud today to introduce--along with my colleagues Senators Kennedy, Abraham, Leahy, and DeWine--the Mother Teresa fee waiver bill of 1997. While daily newscasts focus our attention on the scourge of senseless crime and deadly drugs…
as the Senate considers the Interior appropriations bill, H.R. 2107, I want to comment briefly about a small but very important provision in the bill that will provide $100,000 in Federal money to renovate the Montezuma Creek Health Clinic…
As the original author of the Ryan White CARE Act with Senator Kennedy in 1990, I am extremely pleased to hear of the committee's action to provide such a high level of support for the CARE Act. There is no doubt we have come a long way in…
Many of us have been reading the excellent series in the Washington Post this week about the changing face of the AIDS virus. The article on Monday, if I am correct, highlighted the dramatic gains that have been made with new AIDS…
It is clear that we are all going to have to work harder--both the government and the private sector--in making AIDS medications available to those who need them. It is one of the modern paradoxes that the new AIDS drugs can defer an HIV…
I hear these cries of hysteria all the time on judges. Let's be honest about it. So far this year we processed out of committee 24 nominees. Fifteen have been confirmed. Three will be left after this, and six are pending in the committee…
I respect the motivation of my colleagues who are offering amendments on the proposed global tobacco settlement tonight. As we all know, the issues surrounding this settlement prove easy to frame, but difficult to resolve. I have been…
I rise today to attempt something that I know will not fully succeed. I stand to speak to the legacy of Mother Teresa who in my opinion, was one of the greatest of all humanitarians and advocates for the poor, for the unclothed, the…
I rise to pay a word of tribute to Dr. Richard Lesher, outgoing president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. President, it has been my pleasure to know and work with Dick Lesher since I was a freshman Member of the Senate. We have served…
today I am offering for myself, Senator Leahy, Senator Specter, Senator Landrieu, Senator Mikulski, and I am sure others, a resolution that designates Saturday, September 6, 1997, as a National Day of Recognition for the Humanitarian…
let me just take a moment to discuss the important issue of the funding of the Patent and Trademark Office [PTO] that is contained in the Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill that the Senate will vote on later today…
Let me tell you, during this last cold war time, I had a lot to do with the ILO when I was chairman of the Labor Committee and ranking member there, and ever since, when our tripartite organization--Government, labor and business--saved…
Meth abuse, unfortunately, is also rapidly becoming one of our top public health threats. According to the latest data released by SAMHSA in its "Drug Abuse Warning Network" report released last week the number of children aged 12 to 17…
it is a unique privilege and distinct honor for me to recognize, today, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 24, 1847. It was spring, by…
once more we are engaging in the increasingly repetitive argument over whether the U.S. Senate should support one of our country's most valuable tools of foreign policy--the National Endowment for Democracy. The Senate subcommittee zeroed…
I would like to comment just briefly here on the nomination of Mr. Joel Klein, who has been nominated for the position of Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. Last Friday, I spoke on this floor…
my amendment delinks judges' salaries from our salary problem, because it is unbelievable how terrible it is in many parts of this country that judges do not have an annual COLA. That is what this will grant them. Mr. President, I am…
I must say I find some irony in the criticisms I am hearing today regarding Mr. Klein's efforts to implement the Telecommunications Act. In essence, it is being suggested that Mr. Klein's interpretation of the Act would permit local Bell…
I am very pleased that cloture was invoked last week with such overwhelming support. I must say, however, that I was quite surprised, and disappointed even, to find us in the position of voting on cloture for someone as good as Joel Klein…
Politicians like Orrin Hatch
