Washington • House Speaker Paul Ryan will headline a dinner honoring Sen. Orrin Hatch as the Salt Lake Chamber’s Giant in Our City award winner this year.
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who is not seeking re-election, will speak at the Grand America Hotel on June 9, the chamber said.
“In the history of the State of Utah no other individual legislator has had greater impact than Senator Orrin Hatch,” said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “He has spent the entirety of his career dedicated to the citizens of Utah and this state’s business community.”
The chamber’s award is meant to honor those who give distinguished service to Utah and considers the Giant in Our City as the most prestigious business award in the state.
It’s unprecedented for the chamber to name a sitting officeholder for the honor.
Former Govs. Mike Leavitt and Cal Rampton both were award recipients, but long after they left office. Mitt Romney was named for the honor in 2002, soon after the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and just as he was starting his successful campaign for Massachusetts governor.
Hatch, who is retiring at the end of the year, is the most senior Republican in the Senate and serves as the president pro tempore of the body. As such, Hatch is third in line of presidential succession, behind Ryan.
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