Video: Senator Hatch’s Congress in Review
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, spoke on video about the many important victories he secured for Utah in the 114th Congress. In terms of both the quantity and quality of legislation passed, the 114th Congress was Senator Hatch's most productive yet. True to form, he worked harder than ever to deliver real results for the people of Utah.
In the 114th Congress, we were able to secure a number of critical victories for Utah—from enacting key health reforms and overhauling a broken education system, to strengthening Hill Air Force Base and fixing our nation’s highways.
This Congress was historic in more ways than one. Working on behalf of Utah’s families, I fought harder than ever before and even led the Senate in the number of bills passed. These weren’t throwaway bills but meaningful legislative proposals that will directly improve the lives of all Utahns.
In the last few weeks alone, we passed a number of critical healthcare bills that address the specific needs of everyday Utahns:
Just last week, we passed the ECHO Act—a bipartisan bill that will help those in rural communities access high quality healthcare and specialized services when and where they need it.
We likewise passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which the President signed into law earlier this week. This legislation contained six bills that I introduced to support Utahns with rare diseases. Among other things, my proposals also address shortcomings in antibiotic research and improve lifesaving health information technology.
We also passed a law to facilitate cooperation between law enforcement and drug companies to combat the prescription drug abuse epidemic, an issue particularly pertinent to Utah.
On the defense front, Congress just passed my proposal to enhance the Utah Test and Training Range—an accomplishment that goes hand-in-hand with our decade-long effort to bring the F-35 to Utah. Both the UTTR enhancement and the arrival of the F-35 will solidify the long-term viability of Hill Air Force Base, our local economy, and the role Utah plays in our national defense strategy.
To improve our schools, we worked closely with Utah teachers and leaders on a major education overhaul, which included much-needed reforms to our education system that the Wall Street Journal has praised as “the largest devolution of federal control to the state in a quarter century.” I fought hard for these reforms because I believe local leaders—not Washington bureaucrats—know best how to help Utah’s students.
Additionally, we worked on issues related to modernizing Utah’s classrooms, helping teachers repay their student loan debt and granting disabled students greater access to higher education.
We also made great strides to strengthen our economy when the Senate passed my Trade Promotion Authority legislation. This bill ensures that we are able to pass good trade deals that benefit the families of Utah, where 1 in 5 of our jobs rely on international trade.
We also took important steps to improve transportation, not only in Utah but across the nation. Families in our state spend an average of over $400 dollars a year on car repairs due to poor road conditions. To address this problem and boost our transportation infrastructure as a whole, I spearheaded passage of a major highway bill that will support Utah transportation leaders with crucial funding to improve roads and bridges all around our state. And we were able to make all of these improvements without raising taxes or adding a dime to the deficit.
We passed land transfer bills to give BYU access to Y Mountain. The same transfer also returns federal land to the fast-growing town of Fruit Heights. This bill is an example of the right way to manage federal lands—through congressional approval and not through federal mandates.
Of course, none of this is to mention my bill to hold the EPA accountable for the Gold King Mine spill, which affected countless families and businesses in southeastern Utah.
Meanwhile, companies along Utah’s Silicon Slopes will be happy to know that we passed legislation to protect the vital trade secrets that help them remain competitive in the global innovation economy. My bill was even hailed by industry leaders as the most significant intellectual property reform in years.
Especially given the circumstances—working under a divided government with an uncooperative President—we were able to accomplish a lot this Congress. And in the years to come—in a unified government with a President who is eager to work with Congress—I am optimistic that we will be able to accomplish even more.
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