McConnell, Utah leaders honor ‘larger than life’ Orrin Hatch

By SAM METZ
Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Politicians, friends and colleagues paid tribute to the late U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch at a memorial service in Salt Lake City. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday called Hatch an ‘old friend’ and described him as a principled conservative, committed public servant and man of faith at a ceremony held in a chapel at the Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City. McConnell and others honored both Hatch’s legislative achievements, which included participating in the confirmation hearings of dozens of federal judges, cutting taxes and passing the Americans with Disabilities Act. They also recognized his hardscrabble origins growing up in Depression-era Pennsylvania, his frugality and his sense of humor.