Sen. Orrin Hatch, upon receiving an award from the Bryce Harlow Foundation, said lobbyists are an essential part of the legislative process.
The Bryce Harlow Foundation is a professional organization that “promotes the highest standards for professional lobbying and government relations.” Hatch, during his remarks at the foundation’s awards dinner, took time to praise the profession.
“I’m taking a minor risk attending this event,” Hatch joked. “After all, lobbyists are among the four groups of people who have, I might say, lower approval ratings than Congress.” He added: “Lobbying is an honorable profession. More than that, it is vital, and it is necessary. To be sure, the bad conduct of a tiny minority of lobbyists has, in the eyes of some, maligned the whole profession. But they’re the rare exception. Anyone who shares that view simply misunderstood what lobbyists do.”
