Santorum: Religious faith still vital in America

IOWA CITY -- Religious faith is still vital in America, because freedom requires virtue and virtue requires faith, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum said during a stop at the University of Iowa Monday.

"We have this combination of faith, virtue and freedom, which makes America work," Santorum, a possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate, said.  "America at its founding was a moral enterprise."

Santorum said he is one of the few presidential contenders who wants to talk openly and passionately about moral and cultural issues. He said voters who support that message should ask themselves if they want someone who is "comfortable in their skin in talking about these issues."

In touting his "pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage" message, Santorum said strong families are necessary for a strong economy. It's a direct link, he said, and statistics show that children from two-parent families headed by a man and a woman do better. Strong families are based on strong marriages between a man and a woman, Santorum said. Single parents can get good results in child-rearing much of the time "but it just isn't as good ... as having a mom and a dad," Santorum said.

Society should nurture families headed by a man and a woman, because those are the relationships that are most effective in society, that have intrinsic value, he said.

Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007.

His was the latest visit by possible presidential candidates to Iowa City sponsored by The Family Leader, a conservative Iowa-based group headed by Bob Vander Plaats. Santorum's visit drew about 50 people, a much smaller crowd than the previous UI stops by other potential candidates during The Family Leader presidential lecture series. Santorum's visit was in the morning, while past speakers have been in the afternoon at the UI. He also visited Pella and Sioux Center Monday.

The economy and national security are no doubt top-line issues facing the country, Santorum said. But the long-term issues that have the potential for the most long-term impact are the secularization of society and the deterioration of family, he said.

Regarding the news Sunday night that U.S. military forces had found and killed Osama bin Laden, Santorum gives President Barack Obama credit for the accomplishment, that he remained vigilant in going after bin Laden. But the threat does not disappear just because bin Laden was killed, Santorum said.

"My feeling is that Jihadism, radical Islam is still a great threat to this country," he said. "We need to continue to wage that fight."

Obama has shown a lack of leadership, indecision and confusion on other national security issues, Santorum said. The resolve that Obama showed in continuing to track bin Laden must be applied to other areas where the country is floundering, Santorum said.

In other topics, Santorum said as president he would repeal Obama Care, reform public education in a way that is more customized for the different ways children learn and take advantage of the abundant fossil fuels available in the United States rather than focusing so much on green energy, which he argues doesn't create as many jobs.