This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Every Tuesday, for the first 100 days of this administration, a small group of individuals came to the Federal Building at noon and asked to speak with Sens. Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch. That's 14 weeks. Sometimes we made appointments, which were canceled by the senators. Not once did either senator speak with us.
A representative from their staff would come down and we were able to voice our concerns, but only in the lobby of the building. We were never allowed to meet in an office, even when we had an appointment. And yet Hatch's spokesman Matt Whitlock said that Hatch "has met with and gathered input from every single group that has reached out through the proper channels."
Hatch never met with us, in all of those 14 times we showed up, even with an appointment made by his own staff. Even during recess, when we knew he was in Utah. What does he consider the proper channels? Clearly, those who don't upset his preconceived thinking get accepted to enter his controlled access, and are "granted" an audience. Is Hatch lying when he said he meets with "every single group"? Because he certainly didn't meet with us after 14 weeks of requests.
Susan Corth
Salt Lake City