Press Releases
Press releases are archived according to their release date. For press releases by topic, please see the Issue Positions page.
Jun 07 2013
Hatch Lauds Wolf Delisting Announcement
Utah Senator Spearheaded a Letter in March from 72 Members of Congress to Delist the Gray Wolf from the Endangered Species Act, Turn Management Over to the States
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) applauded today’s announcement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The announcement comes less than three months after Hatch led a bipartisan group of 72 Members of Congress in urging the USFWS to delist the gray wolf from the ESA in the Continental United States. The letter argued that the gray wolf is not an endangered species, and that management of the wolf populations is best handled by the states, and not wildlife officials in Washington. (To view that letter, click HERE).
Jun 06 2013
Hatch Votes to Stop Student Loan Rate Increase
Subsidized Stafford Loans Set to Jump Back up to Nearly 7 Percent Unless on July 1 Unless Congress Acts
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a current member and former chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today voted to move onto legislation introduced by Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to prevent federally-subsidized Stafford student loan rates from increasing from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The legislation Hatch supported would permanently reform the student loan program and provide lower rates for all students utilizing Stafford loans. Not enough votes were secured for the Senate to move to this legislation. Senate Democrats put forward a temporary two-year fix for only about 40 percent of students.
Jun 06 2013
Hatch, Colleagues: End Federal Mandates Creating "National School Board"
Senators Introduce “Every Child Ready for College or Career Act” to let states decide whether schools and teachers are succeeding or failing
Republican senators today introduced a better schools plan that they said would move out of Washington and back to states decisions about whether schools and teachers are succeeding or failing.
Jun 05 2013
Hatch Demands Answers on Growing Cost of Health Law's Premium Subsides
In letter To HHS & Treasury, Utah Senator Questions,’ “Ballooning Costs Of Subsidized Coverage”
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew today, Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) demanded concrete answers on the growing price tag of health care premium subsidies. Over the past three fiscal years, the President’s budget has shown, without explanation, a 107 percent jump in the cost of the Refundable Premium Assistance Tax Credits that were included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to defray the cost of purchasing health insurance.
Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said today after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted to asking health care companies to support Enroll America, the private group headed by a former Obama Administration official and charged with getting Americans to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), “raises even more ethical and legal questions.”
