Press Releases

U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today issued the following statement after it was announced that areas of Southern Utah have been deemed a federal disaster area as a result of flooding which occurred on September 11, 2012:

"I saw the storm-damaged communities in Southern Utah first-hand last month, and there was no doubt in my mind that they reached the threshold required to receive additional assistance. The areas were devastated by the September storm and its aftermath, and my heart goes out to all those affected by the flooding. These communities have my commitment to continue working to ensure that they have the resources they need to again become whole."

Utah Governor Gary Herbert requested the disaster declaration, which allows Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts, and Hatch was in contact with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials to support the request.

Today, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, joined with Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY) and fellow members of the committee in demanding documents to aid in the committee’s investigation into the recent fungal meningitis outbreak, which has sickened more than 300 Americans.

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) are continuing to press for answers from the Obama administration about its grant program that was sold to the American people as a means to study medical malpractice reform, but has instead diverted tens of millions of dollars to research, of which the usefulness has yet to be explained by the administration.

In a letter today, U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, called on Treasury Secretary Geithner to provide detailed, periodic updates regarding the Department’s financial resources and debt-management activities to keep Congress informed of the government’s cash inflows and outflows and prevent the future threat of having to default on its obligations.

A new, independent report found that the Obama Administration’s decision to unilaterally waive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), also known as welfare, work requirements through a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Informational Memorandum (IM) “undermines TANF work rules.” The report, The Welfare Waivers: How They Really Do Water Down Work Requirements, released by the Manhattan Institute supports what the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a September analysis requested by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) that HHS “abruptly abandoned” its previous position that it did not have the authority to waive TANF work requirements.