Rick Santorum
Former Senator Rick Santorum, a Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, established and directs EPPC's Program to Promote and Protect America's Freedom. The Program works to identify, study, and heighten awareness of the threats to America and the West from a growing array of anti-Western forces including radical Islamic or otherwise anti-American sentiment, and nations that increasingly cast a shadow over our future and that violate religious liberty around the world.
The program also focuses on domestic threats to America's freedom and its moral foundation by addressing a variety of issues, including our long-term fiscal health and the tax burden on families and entrepreneurs, and challenges and threats to other foundational freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a virtuous society. Senator Santorum established the program in January, 2007.
Prior to coming to the EPPC, Senator Santorum served as United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995. As a United States Senator, he was a champion of efforts to counter the threat of radical Islam, to protect victims of religious persecution, and to promote democracy and religious liberty around the world. He founded the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom and spearheaded the passage of several key pieces of legislation including the Syria Accountability Act, the Iran Freedom Support Act, and the Global AIDS Authorization Act.
In addition to his work on foreign policy matters, Mr. Santorum led the fight to pass the landmark welfare reform bill, the American Community Renewal Act, a ban on partial-birth abortion, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, the Combating Autism Act, the Farmland Preservation Act, the Abandoned Mine Lands Reform Act, the Multi-Employer Pension Reform Act and Health Savings Accounts. From 2001 to 2007, Senator Santorum served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, where he directed the communications operations of Senate Republicans and was the third-ranking member of the Republican leadership.
In his early days in Congress, Senator Santorum became known for his efforts to reform government, particularly when it came to the way in which Congress operated. He took on Washington's powerful special interests as a member of the "Gang of Seven" that exposed the House Banking and House Post Office scandals.
Senator Santorum worked to keep Congress' fiscal house in order by fighting for a balanced budget and a line item veto. He was also a leader in the effort to reform our nation's entitlement programs - particularly Social Security - at a time when doing so was extremely unpopular.
Senator Santorum is the author of It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good (ISI 2005).
He received his undergraduate degree from Penn State University, his M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, and his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law. He and his wife Karen are the parents of seven children.
In addition to his work at EPPC, SenatorSantorumis the Friday host of Bill Bennett's "Morning in America" nationally-syndicated radio program, a contributor on the Fox News Channel and a columnist with The Philadelphia Inquirer.
