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Richard John "Rick" Santorum (born May 10, 1958) is a Republican U.S. Senator representing Pennsylvania. Among other responsibilities, he is the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the number three job in the party's leadership.
In 1986, he received a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law. In 1990, at age 32, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives; he served two terms, until 1995. He was elected to the Senate in 1994.
Belonging to the conservative arm of his party, he works against abortion, does not believe in a constitutional right to privacy, and was active in welfare reform and government accountability.
Legislation
Santorum co-sponsored the National Museum of African American History and Culture bill, which passed the Senate unanimously.
Santorum is the author of the failed Santorum Amendment which attempted to relativize the teaching of biological evolution in U.S. public schools. The Senate passed a weaker non-binding version of the amendment, which two Ohio Congressmen have invoked to suggest that the state should include "intelligent design" or creationism in its science standards.
Santorum and John Kerry (D-MA) are 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 providing such accommodations will not impose an "undue hardship" upon the employer. Thus, employers would be encouraged to afford employees flexible work shifts so that they may observe religious holy days and permit employees to wear religiously required garb at work. (Versions of the WRFA have been introduced in 1997, 2000, and 2003 but so far have failed to pass).
Statement about sodomy law
In an interview with the Associated Press published April 20, 2003, Santorum made controversial comments regarding the then-upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, which challenged a Texas sodomy law:
- "We have laws in states, like the one at the Supreme Court right now, that has sodomy laws and they were there for a purpose. Because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family."
- "And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."
The initially published excerpts omitted the first paragraph and contained a potentially misleading insert:
- "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to..."
The following day, Democrats as well as gay rights groups demanded an apology. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) called on Santorum to step down as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
Santorum's comments evoked responses ranging from George W. Bush's remark, relayed through a spokesperson, that "the president believes that the senator is an inclusive man", to sharp criticism from Howard Dean that "gay-bashing is not a legitimate public policy discussion; it is immoral", to conservative groups such as the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America who came to Santorum's defense.
Santorum did not back down from his remarks, stating that his comments were not intended to equate homosexuality with incest and adultery, but rather as a critique of a specific legal position: that the right to privacy prevent the government from regulating consensual acts among adults. Something close to this position was in fact later adopted by the US Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas.