Among other topics, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch touched on immigration and health care Thursday during a speech in Utah County, and in some areas expressed agreement with one of his opponents.

Hatch, R-Utah, has several challengers in this year's election, including Democrat Pete Ashdown, an Internet entrepreneur from Salt Lake City.

A Senate proposal on immigration reforms contains a measure that "look like" amnesty for people in the country illegally, Hatch said to Rotary Club members at the Riverside Country Club in Provo. And he reiterated that beefing up border security should be priority No. 1.

"We've done quite a bit to secure the border as it is," Hatch said. "We haven't done enough."

Hatch also said he'd back the idea of a biometric identification card to make it harder for illegal workers to get jobs using fake documents -- something Ashdown said he's been talking about for months.

"That's the first time I've heard him mention it," he said.

Ashdown said border and coastal security could be improved using sensors and unmanned drones, "just like the military does on the Iraq-Syrian border." The legal immigration system also needs reforming, he said.

Both candidates agreed that employers should not bear the cost of verifying the legal status of applicants.

On health care, Hatch recited a list of federal programs that help with medical expenses for many Americans and said that while they're important, they're also expensive.

"We don't want anyone to go without basically decent health care," he said. "On the other hand, it's eating us alive."

Ashdown said he advocates "sweeping all those programs aside and starting over with something that covers everyone."

The other candidates in the race are Scott Bradley of the Constitution Party; Libertarian David Seely; Desert Green Party candidate Julian Hatch; and Roger Price of the Personal Choice Party.

Hatch also mentioned former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., who resigned from office after being confronted with lewd e-mails and instant messages he reportedly exchanged with congressional pages, who are high school students.

He said Foley's actions were despicable, but added that it's wrong for the media to "climb all over" Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and blame him for not disciplining Foley sooner.

"He acted alone," Hatch said of Foley. "It's been blown out of proportion. This is one person who basically did wrong."

Hatch and Foley co-sponsored a bill earlier this year that seeks to improve how sex offenders and those who commit crimes against children are monitored. It passed the Senate and is pending in the House.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D3.