Media Advisory: Hatch’s Utah Tech Tour with Apple CEO Tim Cook
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will host Apple CEO Tim Cook in a special Q&A session with members of the Utah tech community on Sept. 30th at the Grand America in Salt Lake City. Prior to Cook’s remarks, the audience will have the opportunity to hear from some of Utah’s top tech leaders. The event will be open to media.
Senator Hatch and Tim Cook in Hatch’s Senate Office
Who:
Senator Orrin Hatch, Apple CEO Tim Cook
What:
Special Q&A Session
When:
Friday September 30 at 5:30 PM (doors open at 5pm)
Where:
Imperial Ballroom – Grand America
Media:
The event will be open to media, RSVP required.
RSVP to Matt_Whitlock@hatch.senate.gov by Friday at 6 PM MST.
Hatch Hits Back at U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' Attack on Religious Liberty
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate, and a principal author of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, responded in a letter today to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ controversial report on discrimination and religious liberty, which contained statements that have outraged proponents of religious freedom.
Hatch wrote, “the report adopts a stunted and distorted version of religious liberty, suggesting that claims of religious conscience are little more than a cloak for bigotry and hatred. I reject the false picture of religious liberty presented.”
In the letter Senator Hatch also referenced a series of 8 speeches he delivered to the Senate on religious liberty, which can be found here:
1 basic principles of religious liberty;
2 the history of religious liberty;
3 status and substance of religious liberty;
4 the balance between faith and public life;
5 contemporary threats to religious liberty;
6 threats to religious liberty abroad; and
The full letter is below.
Chairman Castro
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 1150
Washington, DC 20425
Dear Chairman Castro:
I reviewed, with both interest and deep concern, the Commission’s report titled Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Nondiscrimination Principles with Civil Liberties.
The report’s asserted focus is the “appropriate balance between religious liberty and nondiscrimination principles.” That effort must begin with an honest consideration of each side of the scale. In my view, the report fails to do that.
To begin, a majority of the Commission appears to believe that, in all but the narrowest of circumstances, the civil right to freedom from discrimination trumps the constitutional right to freely exercise religion. In embracing this position, however, the report adopts a stunted and distorted version of religious liberty, suggesting that claims of religious conscience are little more than a cloak for bigotry and hatred. I reject the false picture of religious liberty presented in the report.
The report also fails properly to account for the primacy of religious liberty in our nation’s history, founding principles, and legal commitments. Remarkably, the report’s title does not even mention the term “religious liberty,” but rather subsumes it as one of a number of “civil liberties” that, one supposes, are of varying significance.
Indeed, I cannot find any discussion in the report of the central status that religious liberty has always had in American society and law. James Madison identified the free exercise of religion according to conviction and conscience as an inalienable right. He further explained that religious exercise “is precedent, both in order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of civil society.” As Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg wrote, to America’s founders, religious liberty was preeminent among fundamental rights. More recently, the Congress of the United States unanimously declared in the International Religious Freedom Act that religious liberty “undergirds the very origin and existence of the United States.”
In a series of Senate floor speeches one year ago, I detailed additional evidence for the primacy of religious liberty in American life. This evidence includes declarations and treaties such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1975 Helsinki Accords, and the 1992 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In annual proclamations, Presidents of both parties have said that religious liberty is essential to our dignity as human beings and that no freedom is more fundamental than the right to practice one’s religious beliefs.
In those Senate speeches, I also outlined the substance of religious liberty. It includes behavior as well as belief, in public as well as in private, and collectively as well as individually. This understanding of religious liberty is clearly presented in both the domestic and international commitments the United States has made throughout its history.
The Commission’s report, however, fails to acknowledge any of this. To the contrary, the report appears to make every effort to confine, narrow, and limit religious liberty. It would have religious liberty apply to belief but not behavior, to be exercised individually in private rather than collectively in public.
And although the report professes to seek a “balance” between religious liberty and nondiscrimination principles, its findings and recommendations undermine any attempt at “balance.” The very first finding states that “protections ensuring nondiscrimination”—including mere “policies”—are “of preeminent importance in American jurisprudence.” Constitutional rights, it seems, or at least the constitutional right to freedom of religion, must take a back seat to policies identified in statute and regulation. I cannot think of another context in which advocates seriously assert those priorities.
Finally, I am troubled by the anti-religious sentiments in several of the supplementary statements in the report. In one statement, you say that religious liberty has become a “code word” for “discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Christian supremacy,” and other forms of “intolerance.” You then tie contemporary religious liberty claims to the shameful legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. This is false equivalence in the extreme. Today’s sincere believers are not seeking to subjugate vast swaths of fellow Americans beneath the rod of government oppression. Rather, they are seeking room to live out their faith in a society that is fast abandoning traditional views on marriage and sexuality.
Because the Commission’s report is based on a briefing before the Commission, it is possible that the Commission was not presented with a comprehensive picture of the history and status of religious liberty in our nation. If so, then perhaps part of the fault lies with how the briefing was organized. Nonetheless, the serious and timely topic of reconciling nondiscrimination principles with freedom of religion cannot adequately be addressed without a more accurate understanding of religious liberty.
As you can tell, I feel strongly about religious liberty. It is an essential and defining part of our nation’s heritage and identity and I am committed to defending it.
Sincerely,
Senator Orrin Hatch
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Media Advisory: Hatch to Speak and Hold Brief Media Availability at UVU on Monday
Washington, D.C.—On Monday, September 26 at 9:00 a.m., the Center for the Study of Ethics at Utah Valley University will present Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, with the Excellence in Ethics Award in recognition of his efforts to defend moral principles over many years of public service. Following the award ceremony, Senator Hatch will deliver a speech and then hold a brief media availability.
From Utah Valley University:
We are delighted to present the Excellence in Ethics Award to the Honorable Senator Orrin G. Hatch. This singular honor is bestowed annually to civic leaders who demonstrate superior ethical judgment both in their personal and professional lives. Such individuals exemplify integrity, courage, and character as they strive to serve their communities and promote ethical behavior. This year, we believe that no one is more deserving of this award than Senator Orrin G. Hatch.
Over nearly four decades of public service, Senator Hatch has established himself as a leading voice in the United States Senate. As the upper chamber’s most senior Republican, he currently serves as President Pro Tempore and as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. In this capacity, he is fighting to create jobs and strengthen the economy by streamlining the tax code and creating more opportunities for American businesses abroad.
As a long-time member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch has also fought to check judicial activism and protect our liberties. One of Senator Hatch’s particularly noteworthy achievements on the Judiciary Committee is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993—a bipartisan bill he co-authored with the late Senator Ted Kennedy. This landmark legislation prohibits substantial government burdens on the free exercise of religion, allowing all Americans to live, work, and worship in accordance with their deeply held personal beliefs.
In addition to protecting our individual liberties, Senator Hatch has long been on the front lines of legislative battles to protect our free-market economy and our system of limited government under the Constitution. His reputation as a statesman and his record of fiscal responsibility even earned him the nickname “Mr. Balanced Budget” from President Reagan.
By all objective measures, Senator Hatch is one of the most effective and impactful legislators of modern times. Since he first came to Congress in 1977, no legislator alive today has sponsored more bills that have become law than Senator Hatch. Moreover, with his work in the current Congress, he shows no signs of letting up.
Some of Senator Hatch’s most notable accomplishments in the 114th Congress include: permanent tax relief for families, small businesses, and entrepreneurs; the first long-term road infrastructure legislation in a decade, which neither raises taxes nor adds a dime to the deficit; a new legal framework for trade deals to expand exports and lower prices for consumers; and new intellectual property protections for valuable trade secrets, such as Café Rio’s recipe for its cilantro-lime ranch dressing or proprietary coding used by Utah’s tech firms.
Of all Senator Hatch’s achievements, he is proudest of his family, and he credits the love of his wife and children as the key to his success. He and Elaine have been married for more than fifty years. Together, they are the parents of six children, 23 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.
Senator Hatch, in recognition of your resolute moral character and your decades-long commitment to public service, we are proud to present you with the Utah Valley University Excellence in Ethics Award.
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