ronald reagan personified it and abraham we can defend it. we need to do the same. now as ever, this nation under god will have a new freedom. our government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth and will have the greatest nation can itand continue to. god bless you and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> thank you. steve does not like his new name chuck, so i am sorry. [laughter]

former senator rick santorum of pennsylvania was elected to the u.s. house of representatives in 1998 at the age of 32. when 1995 to 2007 he served in the u.s. senate. in 2000 he was elected to the position of senate republican conference chairman. he became one of the most successful government reformers in our history. taking on washington's powerful special interests from the moment he arrived. along with john boehner and others he was one of the famous gang of seven that expose post office scandals and it was his record that prompted a reporter to write in a recent article that santorum was a tea party kind of guy before there was a tea party. he is the author of the welfare reform act that has empowered millions to leave the welfare

rolls and enter the workforce. he wrote and championed the legislation that [unintelligible] and the combatting autism act because he believes each and every individual by you and the most notably to be protected. he fought to maintain fiscal sanity in washington before was fashionable come out fighting for a line-item veto. he proposed reforming entitlements, cutting spending, and developing a spendometer. he served eight years on the senate armed services committee where he led the fight for the -- before the attacks of sept. 011 to transform our military to meet today's security needs. he was a leader on u.s.-israeli relations, offering the syria

accountability and the iran freedom act which he fought to pass. despite initial opposition from president bush. he teamed up with president bush to read these courage of aids and malaria from africa. he patted the 2005 best-seller, "it takes the family". he is now a senior fellow at the ethics and policy center. a contributor on the fox news channel. he is proud of his role of husband and father. they're the parents of seven wonderful children. it is my pleasure to introduce to you senator rick santorum. [applause]

>> good to be with you and -- i have done that a million times. sorry. it is great to be back. i was here at a smaller venue last year when we did this. this is exciting to be here. it is always the case when pete read the introduction, i can always count on the line that it's the most response. are the parents of seven children. i thought maybe not in this audience it would not get so much of a ripple. before left the seven children and karen, i told them this was not just another speech for me. the ones you always think of

when you're on the campaign trail and you try out your economic speech or your social conservative speech or whatever. this is a group that is for faith and family and freedom. this is a group that means a lot to me. this is a group that i have been attached at the hip from for a lot of years, working in the vineyards with people who stand for what america stands for. america is a great moral enterprise. it is not just about creating wealth or military strength. it is more than that. my grandfather came to this country and brought my dad at the age of seven. he did not come here because he needed a job. he had a great job in italy and worked on the postal train. he saw the father as a brown shirt in mussolini's youth corps and said that is not what he

wanted for his children. he came to this country and worked until in the coal lands of western pennsylvania until he was 72 digging coal. i remember him very well. i will never forget those powerful hands he had. he came here because he wanted to create the opportunity for his children not just to get rich. not just to the the be able to do whatever they wanted to do. but for my grandfather and generations of americans, america has been about doing what our declaration of independence says. doing what god has treated us to do, to follow his mission. america is not about great wealth or power. the purpose of america is you. the purpose of america is to create an opportunity for each and every person blessed to be in this country.

to be able to live as they ought to live, as they were called to live. we all share values. america, i always say that if i went back to my father's home country of italy and lived there for 50 years, i would not be an italian. when my father came here and learned england -- english and was able to live and be an american, he was an american because he accepted america as the idea is. america is about an idea and it has to be about shared value for what is it? -- or what is it? people say we should set these aside and have a truce. it is to wear. it is the purpose of our country. i have been out fighting in the wars on these moral issues. i can tell you, i had a chance to speak to which anderson who

is the chairman of the judiciary committee. i was talking with him and we have been dealing with these marriage issues and abortion issues and it is tough. i have never been through the assault i have been true over these last few days. i said welcome to the club. it is one thing to stand up in front of a group and talk about the things you believe in. it is another thing to go out and lead and fight for those beliefs. for my children, i always thought because i took the lead on the partial birth abortion and abortion and family issues, i was the conservative. i was involved in all sorts of cutting spending. the gang of seven. i was the conservative conservative. it was not until i stood on the floor of the senate next to barbara boxer and for our on and, debated are boxer. it was a special -- there is a special place in heaven for me

as a result. [applause] after those debates, after i stuck my head out of the foxhole, my children used to think my first name was ultra. once you stick your head out on the social issues, one to fight for the moral fabric of our country, you are labeled. you are labeled. it doesn't matter i was out working on welfare reform in 1996 and 1997. i read the contract with america welfare reform provision. that does not matter you were out. i was able to end a federal entitlement. i stood toe to toe with daniel patrick moynihan. and for the first time, a broad based federal entitlement and

got some boats in the senate. almost half the democratic caucus. ultra. it can stand up and helped -- 54 health care reform. we were the first introduced the concept called medical savings accounts and we push that forward and developed a patient centered approach to solving the problems of health care and focus their energy and tried to change the system to make it more private sector oriented as i did on the finance committee. ultra. it can work and taking on as i did after the events of 9/11 and focused in and trietry to engage colleagues in the senate but even the president on the war of ideas. the war of ideas. who are we at war with? one of the great concerns when i ran in 2006 was we're missing something. we did not understand that we

were losing the battle. not on the streets of iraq in 2006. we were losing it in america because the president did not trust americans enough to tell them who this enemy is and why. what they want us to strike. was afraid to call it what they were. i gave a speech in 2006 and said this is not a war on terror. we are at war with jihadists. they it is because of who we are and they want to distress. we need to laid out for the american public and trust they will understand. i took on that battle. i continued to take on that battle. i spent four years traveling the country talking about the threats. i worked in the last couple years of my term and pass the

iran freedom and of support at. to help the pro-democracy movement in iran. to plant seeds in all these muslim countries that are ruled by dictators that are posed to us to have a peaceful revolution. where we can be helpful to them. and compare that to the strategies of this administration who sit by and watch as people died in the streets of iran and we took the side of the people who are developing nuclear weapons. we sat on the sidelines in as we do in libya. when khadafi -- gaddafi is attacking this country. i am ultra. why? because i share your values and i fought for them. i sit on the floor of the u.s. senate and offered a partial

birth abortion act and i did not just offering. -- offer it. [applause] i stood there and i fought day in and day out year in and year out. 1996, 1998, 1998, 1999. we fought and lost. we lost time and time again and we ended up losing because bill clinton would veto the bill and we the the not have the votes to override the veto. i continued to fight. i continue to stand up for life and god bless us. -- blessed us. [applause] hwo? how? for the first time since roe v. wade in the late 1990's, something dramatic happened. as we were talking about,

remember what it was? a baby in the womb at least 20 weeks with arms and legs and eyes and ears, it is a baby. and it was being delivered all but the head and killed. for the first time, the folks on the other side could not ignore that what was being killed was a baby. it was right there in the doctor's hands as the baby was almost delivered and killed by the doctor. for the first time since roe v. wade, attitudes on -- in public opinion polls changed about abortion and the continue to change. why? because we lost. had bill clinton signed that bill when we first passed it, no one would ever have heard of partial birth abortion but he did not. god blessed us for fighting the fight. we continued and we got it passed, overruling the supreme court and the supreme court said

it was wrong and we passed a bill and said you are wrong. the first section said why they were wrong. [applause] that procedure is banned. we were blessed. we stood up and fought for the unborn victims of violence act. that is if a child is killed by someone who harms the mother and is killed or injured, the law can treat that child as a child for purposes of criminal charges. talk about a house divided. how can we allow abortions and charge someone for the crime for killing the same baby? it depends if the doctor is allowed to or not. has consent to or not. finally, the born alive infant protection act. that is an important piece of legislation that will be something i will talk about a lot. if i ever get down the road a

year plus now to meet with the president. that is a bill i offered and it was copied in all the other states. everyone interest -- introduced their version. if a child born as a result of a botched abortion, that child is entitled to medical protection and treatment. it is a pretty simple bill. [applause] to my knowledge, there was only one person on the floor of any state legislature who stood up and oppose it. it happens to be the current president of the united states. who stood up and said that he opposed this bill because it would impinge on a woman's saidt under roe v. wade and sa any child prior to nine months

of gestation would be able to be killed, otherwise it would impinge on roe v. wade. think about that. any child born prematurely according to the president in his words can be killed. who was the extremist in the abortion debate? who is the ultra in the abortion debate? we have an opportunity in this election to frame a great moral cause. everyone wants to talk about the economy and it is important. it is vitally important. it is important to create jobs and to cut our deficit, it is important to control the size and scope of government, to repeal obamacare, but what is the mission, what is the what for? we have to paint a picture of an american-led that believes in

you again. we have to paint a picture of america where americans believe in ourselves again. that is what is going on here. i referred to the entitlement programs as a result of a conversation i had with juan williams at fox. i used to work there. i was in the green room and the president decided to double down and get this bill passed. who cared about the public opinions? he was going to have the house passed it. i said where you doing? you are going to destroy yourself in the election. the public is against what you are doing. what are you doing? he said, let me tell you. reid, pelosi, obama. we believe americans love

entitlements and once we get you hooked on entitlement, they will never let it go. sounds like nothing more than trying to hook someone like a drug dealer. is that what entitlements do, mccue dependent? make you feel less and what less? [applause] if that is not a moral issue, if what we're doing to the next generation, this entitlement attitude, if that is not a moral issue, i do not know what is. we have an obligation. we have an obligation as americans to do what my grandfather and father did for me. to leave our country better than we found it. a lot of tough things going on

right now. i feel blessed to be here. i feel blessed to be here and i hope you do too. to be here at a time when america that needs you. we're at a crisis point here at home and our deficits and culture. every place is that the turning point. it is a crisis but what a blessing. america needs you. put on aot need tyou to uniform and fight a war. put your citizen cap on and go out and fight to make america the country at least as good, much better than what you were given. that is the blessing and god will be faithful. if there is anything i've learned from the wars are fought in washington, if you are faithful to this great country, he will be faithful to you. i will close with the story of faith. it was during the partial birth

debate. i had debated barbara boxer, six hours on the floor. it was it o'clock p.m. and i was just about to go home. the senate was closing down and i said, there was something i needed to do more. i thought maybe if i stay on the floor and argue, maybe some senators who do not have a life are watching c-span like they're doing now. maybe i can convince them to change their vote. i went back and call my wife and said -- at the time we had four children. do you mind, it is late and i will not get home until after the kids are asleep i feel called to do this. she said what she always said. if you feel what -- this is what god is calling you to do. i said i will be 20 minutes.

an hour and a half later, i finished the speech. i talked about these children whose mothers and fathers had to fight to find a hospital so they could be born. it was easy. they could find places to be aborted but they could not find a hospital where these disabled children who are the target of partial birth abortion, the could not find a hospital. i talked about these miracles. we had to vote the next day and we lost. i thought, what a failure. i had gone home to wait to talk the kids in and karen was asleep. i was a failure as a father and husband. five days later, an e-mail came. it came from a student from michigan state who said, five nights ago, i was looking through c-span and i saw you talking about these children. my girlfriend and i stopped and as we watched, i noticed the tears were running down her

face. i asked her what is wrong and she looked up and said, i am pregnant and i have an abortion scheduled for next week but i will not have it anymore. [applause] the young man said, did not win that battle to overturn the veto but you saved a life of my child. god will be faithful if you do your part and are faithful to his country. we will reclaim this land and make it greater. thank you and god bless you. [applause] >> in a speech today, and waxman

was critical of republicans blocking the epa from regulating greenhouse gas and commissions. that is next on c-span. after that, the president of npr talks about federal funding for public broadcasting. later, we will hear from former cia director james woolsey. tomorrow, an update on international piracy threats. members of the u.s. navy, coast guard, and the royal canadian navy will discuss tactics and how civil unrest is driving more poor people to resort to piracy. it starts at 8:15 eastern on c- span. -- on c-span3. also on c-span3, layer -- ray

lahood will testify before the senate transportation committee. now, congressman henry waxman talks about climate change legislation. a ranking democrat on the energy and commerce committee, waxman says that obama should oppose any spending bill that ends the epa's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. this is an hour. quex good morning, everyone and welcome. i am chairman for the action fund. i am pleased you could join us for this morning's discussion with congressman henry waxman. representative waxman is one of the most determined and effective progressive advocates in congress today. we all know that he has his hands full defending against a

barrage of attacks on great energy and public health programs. it is a special thanks to the congressman for taking time out of your schedule. thank you for being willing to come here and speak to us. i want to start by taking a moment to recognize your hard work on the american queen in ag and security act in the previous congress. the house passage was a success. it would have lowered production costs by spurring investment in clean energy technology while controlling costs. thanks to his leadership, it had broadbased support that it needed to win final approval in the house of representatives. unfortunately, [unintelligible]

from passing complementary legislation and given the hill, we'reoliticacapitol unlikely to see a similar package,. the bill pointed the country in the right direction. i have no doubt that the u.s. will move down the path of -- outlined by chairman waxman and congressman markey. the center for american progress and the fund had focused on shaping strong markets, investing in world- class infrastructure. they will create certainty for clean energy investors and businesses while building a foundation for robust future growth. these technologies will help the largest polluters reduce their carbon dioxide pollution under rules to be set by the environmental protection agency. another area of our focus

remains ending our independence -- our dependence on foreign oil. did we need another week of call? oil prices are at their highest level. before the spike that was caused by the turmoil in north africa and the middle east. imported oil already accounted for half of our trade deficit. you would think congress would act with haste to bring on technologies that would increase efficiency and switch our fuel mix to less volatile domestic supplies. what was the house's response? to cut investments in oil and programs including public transit, high-speed rail, and programs to help factories retooled to make cleaner cars. that is insanity masquerading as fiscal discipline. we are not without hope since it does not appear the administration will get much

help from the current house majority. it will need to do more with current authorities including setting fuel economy standards for 2017 through 20/20 five model years that follow up on the initial improvements that were going into effect this year that were settled in 2009. it needs to complete a first of all fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks. it can encourage congress to increase the availability of incentives for people to buy super efficient cars and electric vehicles and create incentives to move fleet vehicles to run on domestically produced natural gas. the administration can take some short-term steps to protect businesses and families, including making oil available through a strategic petroleum reserve release and encouraging reserve release and encouraging to come out of