Richard John Santorum (born May 10, 1958) is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum is a member of the Republican Party and was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the number-three job in the party leadership of the Senate.
Santorum holds conservative social and fiscal stances. He is particularly known for his stances on Social Security, intelligent design, homosexuality, and the Terri Schiavo case. Santorum was defeated 59% to 41% in the 2006 U.S. Senate election by Democratic candidate Bob Casey, Jr. This was the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent Senator since 1980.
In March 2007, Santorum joined Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC. He will primarily practice law in the firm's Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. offices, where he will provide business and strategic counseling services to the firm clients. In addition to his work with the firm, Santorum also serves as a Senior Fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and is a contributor to Fox News Channel.

Early life, education, and legal career
Santorum first became actively involved in politics volunteering for the late Senator John Heinz.
After getting his MBA in 1981, Santorum became an administrative assistant to Republican State Senator J. Doyle Corman (until 1986). He was director of the Pennsylvania Senate's local government committee from 1981 to 1984, then-director of the Pennsylvania Senate's Transportation Committee until 1986.
In 1990, at age 32, Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th District, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. He scored a significant upset, defeating a seven-term Democratic incumbent, Doug Walgren. Although the 18th was heavily Democratic, Santorum attacked Walgren for living outside the district for most of the year. He was reelected in 1992, in part because the district lost its share of Pittsburgh as a result of redistricting. In Congress, as a member of the Gang of Seven, Santorum worked to expose congressional corruption by outing the guilty parties in the House banking scandal.
In 1994, at the age of 36, Santorum was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating the incumbent Democrat, Harris Wofford, who was 32 years his senior. Santorum was re-elected in 2000. He failed in his bid for a third term in 2006.
As Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, Santorum directed the communications operations of Senate Republicans and was a frequent party spokesperson. He was the youngest member of the Senate leadership and the first Pennsylvanian to hold such a prominent position since Senator Hugh Scott was Republican leader in the 1970s. In addition, Santorum served on the Senate Agriculture Committee; the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Senate Special Committee on Aging; and the Senate Finance Committee, of which he was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy.
In January 2005, Santorum announced his intention to run for United States Senate Republican Whip, the second highest post in the Republican caucus after the 2006 election. With his 2006 U.S. Senate election loss, this is no longer possible.
During the lame-duck session of the 109th Congress, Santorum was one of only two senators who voted against Robert Gates to become Secretary of Defense. He cited his opposition to Gates' advocacy of engaging Iran and Syria to solve the problem, claiming that talking to "radical Islam" would be a grievous error.

Political career
In September 2005, Santorum gave a speech that outlined the successes and failures — but, more centrally, the future — of conservatism, at the Heritage Foundation's First International Conservative Conference on Social Justice. In November 2005, he adapted his speech into an op-ed piece for the political website Townhall.com outlining his vision for "Compassionate Conservatism".
What I call "Compassionate Conservatism" has something unique to offer to the shaping of our future.
Compassionate Conservatism relies on healthy families, freedom of faith, a vibrant civil society, a proper understanding of the individual and a focused government to achieve noble purposes through definable objectives which offers hope to all. [...]
Conservatism is based upon the idea of preserving the good in our society, adding to it the wisdom of experience coupled with the courage and optimism of a new generation. This formula inspired Reagan and Thatcher to hope, and to work together to change the world. Let us build upon their example to be a beacon of hope in this troubled world.

Political Ideology
Santorum has been active in addressing the issues of welfare reform and government accountability. He is a self-described conservative who favors legislation that would restrict or prohibit abortion. Santorum has said he is personally against abortion and has expressed disapproval of homosexuality, issues that he believes should be decided by elected officials rather than the Supreme Court: "what I'd like to do is have these kinds of incredibly important moral issues be decided by the American public, not by nine unelected, unaccountable judges."

Legislation and issues
Santorum opposed the recent Senate proposal that addressed illegal immigration. (please specify) Instead, Santorum believes that the US should first act to enforce currently existing laws. He has openly stated his strong opposition to amnesty for illegal immigrants. He supports the construction of a barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border, an increase in the number of border patrol agents on the border, and the stationing of National Guard troops along the border. He also believes that illegal immigrants should be deported immediately when they commit crimes, and that illegal immigrants should not receive benefits from the government. Finally, the former senator believes that English should be established as the national language in the United States.

Illegal immigration

Main article: Santorum Amendment Intelligent design
Santorum and U.S. Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, were the lead sponsors of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA), which would require employers to accommodate the religious observances of their employees as long as such accommodations would not impose an "undue hardship" on the employer. Thus, employers would be required to afford employees flexible work shifts so that they could observe religious holidays and to permit employees to wear religiously required clothing at work. Versions of the WRFA have been introduced in 1997, 2000, and 2003, but have failed to be enacted.

Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Main article: National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005 National Weather Service
As a key member of the Gang of Seven (a group of seven freshmen Republican Congressmen), Santorum helped expose a scandal at the House Bank. The Gang of Seven's reform-minded agenda is often cited as a foundation of the 1994 Republican takeover of the House of Representatives.
In 1996, as a U.S. Senator, Santorum served as Chairman of the GOP Task Force on Welfare Reform and was the author and key sponsor of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
Though not a named author of the special Terri Schiavo legislation, Santorum played a key role in shepherding the bill through the Senate to a vote on March 20, 2005. Santorum has frequently stated that he does not believe a "right to privacy" exists under the Constitution, even within marriage; he has been especially critical of the Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which held that the Constitution guaranteed the aforementioned right, and on that basis, overturned a law prohibiting the sale and use of contraceptives.
In reference to the Iraq war in 2006, Santorum drew an analogy with The Lord of The Rings in one of his addresses:
"As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S. "You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States."

2006 campaign
Before failing to win reelection in 2006, Santorum had frequently been mentioned as a possible 2008 presidential candidate. Such speculation faded when, during the course of the campaign and in light of unimpressive poll numbers, he declared that, if re-elected, he would serve a full term. After he lost, Santorum once again ruled out a presidential run.

Post-Senate career
Santorum has attracted both support and criticism because of his socially conservative and outspoken views, primarily because of his stances on same-sex marriage, homosexuality, and abortion. His views on social and cultural issues are presented in his 2005 book, It Takes a Family, published by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute of Wilmington, Delaware.
In September 2006, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) included Santorum in their second annual report on members of Congress with ethics issues, titled "Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch)".

Controversies

Controversial statements regarding homosexuality

Main article: Santorum controversy Homosexual acts
In July 2005, Santorum's director of communications, Robert Traynham, confirmed speculation that he was gay, describing himself as an "out gay man" who strongly supported Santorum, "a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in." Santorum responded that it is upsetting that those who are opposed to him would target the private lives of his staff, in attempts to gain ground with his opponents. He stated that Traynham "is widely respected and admired on Capitol Hill" and "continues to have [his] full support and confidence."

Robert Traynham
In 2005, a controversy developed over comments about Boston, Massachusetts, that Santorum made in a 2002 article about the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. Santorum wrote:
These comments came to wider attention through an opinion column in the Philadelphia Daily News on June 24, 2005. Columnist John Baer cited Santorum's article, stating, "I'd remind you this is the same Senate leader who recently likened Democrats fighting to save the filibuster to Nazis."

Comments about the Boston Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal
On September 4, 2005, Santorum spoke to a Pittsburgh television station, WTAE, about the evacuation warnings given for Hurricane Katrina:
The campaign of Bob Casey, Jr., his Democratic opponent for the Senate, criticized Santorum's remarks. The amendment was inserted in the Tax Relief Act of 2006, which provides aid for Hurricane Katrina victims and sets new policies for tax-exempt groups.

Hurricane Katrina
In November 2004, a controversy developed over education costs for Santorum's children. Santorum's legal address is a three-bedroom house in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, which he purchased for $87,800 in 1997. But since 2001, he has lived in Leesburg, Virginia, a town about one hour's drive west of Washington, D.C., and about 90 minutes' drive south of the Pennsylvania border, in a house he purchased for $643,000. The Penn Hills Progress, a local paper, reported that Santorum and his wife paid about $2,000 per year in property taxes on their Pennsylvania home. The paper also found that another couple — possibly renters — were registered voters at the same address.

Pennsylvania residency and tuition controversy
In June 2006, Santorum declared that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had been found in Iraq. Portions were declassified in a summary that made six key points:

Since 2003, Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded or vacant mustard or sarin nerve agent casings.
Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist. They have no viable military capability, however.
Pre-Gulf War chemical munitions could be sold on the black market. Use of these weapons by terrorists or insurgent groups could have implications for Coalition forces in Iraq.
The most likely munitions remaining are sarin and mustard-filled projectile casings.
The purity of the agent inside the munitions depends on many factors, including the manufacturing process, potential additives, and environmental storage conditions. While agents degrade over time, the residue could be hazardous upon dermal contact.
It has been reported in open press that insurgents and Iraqi groups desire to acquire and use chemical weapons. Declaration regarding WMD in Iraq
In 2005 a coalition of animal rights groups, spearheaded by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) mounted a failed effort to push the Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005 (PAWS) through congress. The bill was proposed by Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and sponsored by Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Spector (R-PA). PAWS would have reclassified most small and hobby breeders as commercial breeders subjecting them to USDA regulations, allowed home inspections and placed fees and compliance expenses on pet breeders. Fellow Congressmen were told that PAWS was "the puppy mill bill".
This was Santorum's third failed attempt at pet-related legislation.

Bibliography