Posted by: Orrin Hatch in Technology on
Jan 6, 2010
The following originally appeared as an op-ed in The Hill. -Staff
Over 40 years ago, the Internet was invented in the United States. From its humble beginnings as a research project sponsored by the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency, use of the Internet has exploded.
Consumers and businesses around the world rely on the Internet to communicate, compete and obtain information. The United States not only invented the Internet, we also invented the impressive array of devices, applications and services that run with it. From YouTube to the iPhone, e-mail to telemedicine, American innovation is a dominant force on the Internet. But urgent action is needed if America is to maintain its competitive edge in innovation and technology.
Posted by: Orrin Hatch in Health Care Reform on
Jan 5, 2010
The following originally appeared as an op-ed with Mark Shurtleff in the Salt Lake Tribune. -Staff
The legislation being crafted in Washington to take over the health care system is not only bad policy for Utah and America but a threat to liberty itself. It undermines the rights of both individual Americans and states. We will work together, fighting on both political and legal fronts, to prevent this big-government plan from unconstitutionally expanding federal power and control over all of us.
Posted by: Orrin Hatch in Health Care Reform on
Jan 4, 2010
The following originally appeared as an op-ed with J. Kenneth Blackwell and Kenneth A. Klukowski in the Wall Street Journal. -Staff
President Obama's health-care bill is now moving toward final passage. The policy issues may be coming to an end, but the legal issues are certain to continue because key provisions of this dangerous legislation are unconstitutional. Legally speaking, this legislation creates a target-rich environment. We will focus on three of its more glaring constitutional defects.
The following originally appeared as an op-ed in the Ogden Standard-Examiner. -Staff
We find ourselves in perilous times. We face the great challenge of spiraling federal debt that threatens the soundness of our currency, the security of economic recovery and the aspirations of the next generation. Federal spending is taking the largest share of national income since the early 1950s and the deficit is as large as it has been since World War II.
The future is just as bleak. Left to its devices, the Obama administration would implement a budget plan that is dangerous.
The following originally appeared as an op-ed in the Deseret News. -Staff
We, as a nation, are standing at historic crossroads. Despite growing opposition from the American people, the Democratic majority continues their brazen efforts to jam through a 2,074-page edict before Christmas day that will impact every American life and every American business. The most disturbing part of this exercise is that it is a bill that is yet to be seen in its entirety. Major sections of this bill are nothing more than amorphous policies that continuously shape-shift behind closed doors in the Capitol in an effort to buy 60 votes.
We have all heard a lot of speeches over the past few weeks. I want to take this opportunity to lay out some cold, hard numbers about this bill and the reality we are facing as a nation for all my fellow Utahns.
The following originally appeared as an op-ed in the New York Post. -Staff
The trial of the century will take place when Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, and his cohorts stand trial in New York City. Yet Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to treat them as ordinary criminals -- rather than as terrorists captured during wartime -- ignores the lessons of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.
The following originally appeared as an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. -Staff
President Barack Obama has decided the federal government should purchase an Illinois state prison and use it to house Guantanamo detainees. After unsuccessfully lobbying the International Olympic Committee to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago, he has decided to bring captured enemy combatants to Illinois instead. This has to be worst consolation prize in human history.
I am concerned that this transfer into the U.S. will grant privileges and rights to the detainees. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, well-established constitutional protections are triggered once a detainee is brought into the United States. These rights are not always available when an alien is detained outside our nation's borders.
Posted by: Orrin Hatch in Health Care Reform on
Dec 17, 2009
The following originally appeared as an op-ed on CNN.com. -Staff
The Democratic health care proposal being debated in the Senate not only contains large new taxes, enormous government expansion and huge spending, but I'm convinced it also seeks to allow federal funding for abortion -- something 61 percent of Americans do not support, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey.
Posted by: Orrin Hatch in Health Care Reform on
Dec 7, 2009
The following originally appeared as an op-ed in Human Events. -Staff
The federal government takeover of America's health care system is under way. Whatever form it finally takes, Americans need to know what is being done to them and who is responsible.
Everything the Senate or the House does has two parts, process and substance. In the Senate, for example, debate on a bill must end before there can be a vote on the bill itself. When there might be enough votes to pass a controversial bill but fewer than the 60 votes needed to end debate on it, some senators may be tempted to say they oppose the bill but still vote to end debate. When the Senate bill to take over the health care system comes up, senators cannot have it both ways. They cannot say they oppose the bill but then support the process that makes passage possible. A vote for ending debate is a vote for the bill.
Posted by: Orrin Hatch in Health Care Reform on
Nov 9, 2009
The following originally appeared as a letter to the editor in the Politico. -Staff
There are many very serious reasons to oppose the government takeover of America's health care system. But before debating whether Congress should take this step, we must first determine whether Congress may do so. In "Health Care Reform Is Constitutional" on Oct. 23, professor Erwin Chemerinsky wrote in POLITICO that "there is no doubt that bills passed by House and Senate committees are constitutional." That conclusion is easier to reach, as Chemerinsky did, by ignoring the most obvious constitutional problem with requiring individuals to buy health insurance.
The only conceivable power Congress may use for this individual mandate is its power to regulate interstate commerce. Chemerinsky correctly observed that the Supreme Court "has held that this includes authority to regulate activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce." The most important word in that description of Supreme Court precedent is one he used but never discussed: "activities." Every Supreme Court case interpreting and applying the commerce clause, over nearly two centuries, has involved Congress's attempting to regulate what people choose to do. None of those cases involved what Congress is about to do on health care: require that people engage in an activity by purchasing a good or service whether they want to or not.
