U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, gave a wonderful valedictory speech on the Senate floor this morning, closing his 42 years of service in the Senate — the longest term for anyone continuously serving as a Republican senator.
The themes he stressed — civility, pluralism, unity — were familiar for such valedictories, which could make them sound trite. But Hatch abided by those themes, lived those themes and, more important, is right about how essential they are to the American project. The importance of the themes isn’t trite, but true — and it’s time they again become tried and true, rather than lofty, now-unpracticed, aspirations of a bygone era.
Hatch’s speech touched on too many important points to allow for ample review here. But it’s worth noting that he echoed John McCain’s own valedictory call for a return to “regular order” in the Senate, to actual debating of legislation within the committee process, and for humility before the reality that “you are part of something that is greater than yourself.”
Yet, humility does not require abandonment of leadership. Against all those who excuse the deterioration of civility in Washington by saying it merely and unavoidably reflects trends in popular culture, Hatch rightly said the mantle of elected leadership requires assumption of responsibility.
“We [in Congress and the White House] don’t mirror the political culture as much as we make it,” Hatch said. “If we abandon civility, then our constituents will follow. … So to mend the nation, we must first mend the Senate. Both in our personal and public conduct, we must be the very change we want to see in the country.”
Hatch’s famous friendships “across the political aisle” have always enabled him to accomplish more legislatively than most senators. What’s amazing is how effective and active he has continued to be, right up through his last weeks in office. In recent weeks, my inbox has been filled with press releases about actual, substantive accomplishments Hatch has finessed through what otherwise is legislative gridlock.
“Hatch Child Victim Pornography Act signed into law.”
Trump signs into law the “Music Modernization Act,” updating and guaranteeing the intellectual property of musicians.
“Hatch’s bill protecting religious institutions signed into law.”
“Hatch works with FCC on final stages of suicide hotline designation.”
The general public might think these sorts of things are par for the course. Well, the multitudinous press releases are, but the substance isn’t. Most congressional press releases boast about local pork secured in spending bills, or about small amendments tacked onto larger bills, or about discrete successes in convincing federal agencies to act with common sense on some issue of home-district importance. Rare is the opportunity to boast of passage of entire pieces of major legislation which a senator didn’t merely “co-sponsor,” but of and behind which he actually was a lead author and driving force.
Nobody is a perfect senator, and nitpickers from both the Right and the Left will rightly say that in 42 years, Hatch made his share of mistakes of substance and tone. Close observers, though, will surely agree that Hatch’s flaws were fewer, his adherence to legislative virtues more constant, and his signature accomplishments for the broader public more significant, than those of the vast majority of colleagues with whom he served. Orrin Hatch has done much to preserve and improve this civilization of ours, and his public service will be missed.
