Hatch: Gorsuch Is One Of US's Best Judges

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch says Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is one of the best judges in the country and will protect religious liberties is he's confirmed to the high court.

Hatch, a Republican, spoke to Utah's state Senate on Wednesday about Gorsuch, a Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch arrives for a meeting with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) February 8, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The senator says the most important issue to consider in the 2016 presidential election was filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Hatch and Republicans last year refused to attend or support a hearing on President Barack Obama's pick for the slot, Judge Merrick Garland.

Hatch wrote a guest editorial last May that was mistakenly posted before he met with Garland in which the senator said his meeting with Garland didn't change his mind.