Orrin Hatch is stepping down, but he's not planning on fading away.
The long-serving Republican senator spoke Monday at an event kicking off a $40 million fundraising campaign to build the Hatch Center library and think tank.
The 83-year-old says it isn't easy to retire after more than 40 years, but he's more comfortable knowing he recruited Mitt Romney to run as his replacement. Romney is the heavy favorite to win in November.
His foundation aims to raise the money over the next two and a half years to build the stately Salt Lake City center that will house a replica of his office, his voluminous papers and public policy research.
Hatch says he wants to share "the virtues of comity, cooperation and compromise" with the next generation of lawmakers.
