A lot of political hay was made of President Bush's court nominations that did not get Senate approval. Still, Hatch is proud of the 204 judges that were approved (100 of those confirmations came during 17 months when the committee had shifted to Democratic control and Hatch was the ranking minority member).

And he is not shy about pointing out how he has used the committee to help Utah. He has taken a personal interest in getting Utah judges appointed to the federal judiciary. He was instrumental in the FBI relocating its computer forensics and translation operations to Salt Lake, and he secured a wealth of funding for security during the 2002 Winter Games.

Utah will soon get a new federal immigration judge, too, he said.

During his six-year tenure, there have been dozens of major pieces of legislation that bear his name.

More often than not, the legislation also includes the name of Democrats: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Dela., on crime reform; Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., on children's health insurance; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the DNA legislation.

It is a bipartisan approach that has earned him respect and friends among Democrats. "They know my word is good," Hatch said.

Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the committee, who has served with Hatch on the committee for more than a quarter century, was effusive in his praise of how Hatch has included Democrats.

"Over the years, I have been privileged to be able to call him a colleague and a friend," Leahy said.

Indeed, Hatch typically refers to most of his colleagues on the committee as "my friends."

"All of them are my friends, although some of them are more friendly than others," Hatch said. "They respect me, but they may not admit it. I have always tried to reach out whether they are in the minority or I am in the minority . There is a reason why (Massachusetts Sen. John) Kerry only passed five bills in 20 years. You can't get much done unless you are open-minded and bring people together."

Hatch is disappointed the Senate has become so partisan and that the partisanship has extended even to "my friends."

"There is no question they are not going to throw me bouquets, because it has become so partisan. They don't want to give me anything," Hatch said. "But I think Biden and Kennedy would say good things."

Actually, neither Biden nor Kennedy responded to repeated requests to answer questions about Hatch's tenure as chairman.

Leahy was not so parsimonious.

"As old-school veterans of the Senate, both of us also believe in the importance of civility that makes the Senate work," he said. "We know how to disagree without being personally disagreeable."