. >> the secretary of state for energy, in a newspaper interview, cast doubt on the liability of investment in the civil nuclear energy industry. given the strategic importance of this industry and the need for certainty and commitment from the government, can the prime minister reassure this house and business that his policy is unaltered in this area? >> i can do that. the energy and climate change secretaire would say exactly the same thing. we have created a fair playing field where that private investment can come forward. what we should not be doing is having unfair subsidies. we're making sure that, on the issues such as planning carmen pricing, there is a clear situation so that nuclear, which is part of the energy mix in this country can go on being part of the energy mix in our country. >> last friday, i visited

rollins community college in my constituency. we discussed the fact that government cannot spend money they do not have. the students understood that. why does my right hon. friend think the opposition do not? >> the hon. lady makes a very good point. i know the party opposite does not like to hear about the mess that they left. but let me give them some news -- some new published information about the mess they left in this is where we were pared 72nd on wistfulness of government spending behind khazikstan and cambodia 108 on government debt, behind mulally lesotho, and yes, you guessed it, libya. our banks under liver were less sound than those in serbia, is done it, madagascar, and chad.

that is the record we inherited from the party opposite and we will not tire of reminding them. >> order! >> each week that the house of commons is in session, we air live the prime minister's questions on c-span 2. at cs cannot afford -- at c- span.org, you can find previous videos of the prime minister's questions. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> coming up on "road to the white house," an interview with former pennsylvania senator rick santorum. also, a look at the late geraldine ferraro's vice president shall nomination speech.

then a look at libya. >> monday, president obama will deliver a speech on libya from the national defense university in washington d.c.. vote -- he will give us an update on the action there. that is the president's speech on libya monday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern live here on c- span and on c-span radio. >> our series of interviews with likely gop presidential candidates continue with rick santorum. we will talk with him about his political career, when he began thinking of running for president, and why, what issues he thinks will be important in the 2012 campaign, state rights and health care, and his views on abortion, church versus state, and catholicism. this is about 50 minutes.

>> when did you decide to run for president. >> when i saw what was happening in washington, see, i could not sit on the sidelines anymore. i felt that i had to get out there and engage i was not a tea party guy, but i have some of the same motivations. this was a tipping point. if the government took over the health care system, america as we know it, as i was given it, as my grandfather who came to this country that place would no longer exists. so i just went out and started talking and working on campaigns

and talking to people around the country and trying to stir people up and provide a message and a lot of feedback. you should think about doing this again, running for something. i kept walking down the path. i found out, by the way, when i went to iowa we had been in 21 states but when i went to iowa c-span actually covered my speech. other folks started paying attention. they said, "oh you are running for president." i said, "no, i'm just visiting the states." i kept going back to iowa and then new hampshire and south carolina because, every time i did, i got covered. i wanted to be heard. when i did that, was encouraged by people in those states to start thinking about it and that is sort of how this all happened. it was really by accident. >> you were quick to point out you are not a tea party guy. >> i love the tea party but i

will not claim the mantle. tea party folks are those who buy large have not been active in politics and were brought out because of what has been going on washington. i am sympathetic to what they have been doing and the service they have been to the country. reid engaging for me was because of what they have them pierre >> if you run, why you want to be president? >> as i said before, our country is at a tipping point. not just economically, but culturally as well as we have seen recently from a national security point of view. i think we need someone who believes in america and the first principle that has a record to demonstrate that i have the courage of my convictions to fight for those principles, to fight for limited

government to fight for a government that believes that we are a great country. because of our people and our people are free and free people individually and collectively, have created the greatest country in the world not a powerful washington group of people who can plan the course of america. that is not how america became great. it did not become great because things done here in washington, d.c. it got here because the people in washington, d.c. believed initially that our people -- our country would be great if people were allowed to pursue their dreams and that we would have a better country that we would be our brother's keepers create this great society from the bottom up. and we did. and now we have a group of people who believe that we can perfected by doing it from the top down. and i disagree with that. i believe that we need someone

who can take a vision as for what america can be going forward. it is not control and power here in washington, d.c. is going back to those principles. it is great. >> so what is the state of the union today? what is the state of america? >> as i said, we are at a turning point. the first thing that needs to be done in 2013 -- and it may get them by the courts before that -- which is to repeal obamacare. many to begin the process of backing off the federal government, of creating this society again that believes the people instead of government, that believes in freedom and the opportunity to succeed greeley and phil bradley. that destructive and constructive capitalism has improved the overall quality of life for americans and changed the world. >> the department of health and

human services pointed out that, it your out of college and you have children in college and they get back in the work force they can stay in your plan until the age of 26. is that a good thing? >> most states have provisions like that. to me, that is now in the the federal government has to do. if it is a good idea, the states will add them and put them in place. if you look at a lot of the things that the federal government is doing, they're sticking their nose and things that they do not need to stick nose in. this was left for the states to do by the constitution. insurance, as you know, is regulated state-by-day. then the state to go out and do that. we do not need a federal government plan. if you look at the thousands of pages of bills in the obamacare bill, it is one small part that happens to be popular. well, if it is popular then you

can pass it to the states. we do not need to do it here and it is not a justification for a government takeover of the health care system. i was just as south carolina and talking to an insurance company down there. they told me that almost 80% of the plans that they would offer would have to be -- the benefits would be increased under obamacare. so driving up costs to everyone. why? because the federal government says that this is the interest policy should have had a minimum. so there is no personalization or customization or individualization. again, as more people in washington think that they can plan better than you can decide for yourself. and that is the wrong approach. but if you do not help health insurance, your emergency room becomes your primary physician and that increases costs. >> will that has not been the case in massachusetts where they instituted an individual mandate. emergency room visits actually went up, not down. utilization went up, not down.

if you give people access to free health care, they will end up using it just as efficiently as they used it before. that is we cannot have the government saying here's what we will give you. you have to have a system in place that engages the individual, makes them have a skin and the game, a stake in the game. i think it is vitally important that we do that. health insurance coverage for everybody, but in a way that engages the individual so they have some interest financial interest, in the health care they're consuming. if not, we will have misallocation of resources. we'll have over-utilization. and this bill is scheduled to cost more than $2 trillion in the first years it is implemented. it will be much more than that. unless we do something to bring people involved. again, it is this group of people in washington led by president obama who believe they are smart enough to tell you everything you need to do and how to do it as opposed to say

no, we will trust individuals. ls. the program i'm advocating is something called you care, which is speaker -- centered around you, not him. >> what is your view of mit romney? zwr he had the right to do it. i don't believe that president obama's bill is constitutional. i don't believe he had the right to tell -- the federal government has the right to tell individuals what they can and can't buy anymore than i can force you to buy that suit. that's -- i do believe that's wrong. the states, on the other hand, under the u.s. constitution has the right to do it. the state constitution may not allow them, but the federal constitution does. he had the right to do it. it was nothe right thing to do. and, you know, individual mandates and a prescripping -- predescriptive top down is how it is going to run. what you are going to see is the prograis not working well. people joining in the ranks of

the inshured are doing so through the medicaid iurance. private sector insurance is, as you saw, governor patrick try to put a cap in fact, freeze any kind of premium increases. they are driving up costs and say to the insurance companies well, you can't cause charge anymore p this is a heavy prescrtive idea that people can't work this out, that government can't do it and it is not the right approach to take. >> will it be an issue in the republican primary. >> i believe as you have heard that obama care is the -- it is not just health care. it is not just the size and scope of government, it also has a huge impact on our economy. there were these taxes and regulations and mandates that are coming down the pike. i am sure, in fact i have heard from businesses, is creating that level of uncertainty. one of the reasons we are not seeing the rebound that we would like to see, i believe is obama

care out there. l >> under romney's plan, though? >> certainly you need to have someone out there who believes in you care, not romney care, the governor telling everybody what kind of care they are going to have, or the president telling everybody what kind of care they are going to have, but in fact, a system that allows for a market that is focused on you and that you design the kind of health care that you want. >> the are two terms in the house of representatives, two terms in the senate. a fast-rising g.o.p. star. my question is, did you view yourself as a fast-rising star? >> no. because usually fast-rising stars tend to burn out and fade. so i sort of saw myself as someone who was there had a purpose for being there.

engaged. that's one of the things i felt a privilege. diversity like pennsylvania. being in the united stat senate, he had a range of experiences and a rain many of people had interest in things. there was always interesting that people would bringe lots of great ideas and have lots of great opportunities to talk about those ideas here in d.c., whether it was national security issues some major pieces of legislation. i worked on agricultural policies from pennsylvania, i worked on, you know, social welfare policies. there was president a bill that passed in the 12 years i was in the senate that had to deal with dealing with the poor that i wasn't heavily involved in, in one way or another. the diversity of my state sort of -- there was not a bill that passed in the 12 years i was in the senate that had to deal with dealing with the poor that i wasn't heavily involved in, in

one way or another. i have a long record of accomplishments that we were able to get done on a bipartisan basis that you know, were implementation of conservative ideas that were consistent with the ideas i advocated. my parents met when they were working for the veterans administration after the war. they got married in the mid 1950 's. they got married in martinsburg west virginia, when they met. the closest hospital, my motr was almost 40 when i was born. they needed a fuller service hospital, because that was considered old to have children back then. i was born in winchester. my parents moved to suburban pittsburgh, butler, pennsylvania, when i was 7 years old, and i spent most of my next 10 years there. i graduated from high school i illinois because myarents were

transferred with the v.a. always said i grew up on public housing because we always lived on the v.a. grounds. we lived on the post. we lived in apartments. it was great atmosphere t grow up there. had a lot of interactions with our vetravens. came to have a lot of respect for our military and for those who served. as my parents did obviously working there. i went to penn state, and stayed ever since. >> before running for the house i was practicing law. in pittsburgh i got out of college, b.a. from the university of pittsburgh. it was someone i met from penn ste and was his chief of staff for five years. during that lastive ars, i went to law school and graduated from law school, and decided i wanted to come back home to pittsburgh. you know, sort of plant some roots down there, and ended up practicing law for a few years.

it felt like one of the things wher again a plan, gee this is what i want to do. but i was not happy with the congressman who was representing me, so i started to run. >> who did you commeng? >> doug robert. he was a 14-year incumbent congressman. chairman of the subcommittee on the energy and commerce committee. he had never since his first race gotten a large percentage of the vote. it was not a difficult thing to run for. there were not foo many people interested in running against him. i put my name on the ballot. name recognition in the district was 6%. i was told by my pollster, go back to work, because you are not going to win this race. i was out-spent 3-1. it was a heavily democratic district. it was mid-term bush 41.

the top of the ticket was bob kasich and i was second on the ballot. in some respects i look at that race and it was more of a m. l than anything else. i knew that potential my days were numbered. because in 1992, as we're going through right now, in years ending with 2, is a redistricting year. pen not lost two dog congressional seats. i was told by both my colleagues in the statehouse and senate, that i was going to be one of those two seats and indeed i was. my home was put into a district that was well over 70% democratic in registration. and against a 20 or 22-year democratic incumbent who eventually decided that he

wasn't up for a challenge of running against me for some reason and ended up winning that race again. not a good election year. clinton won my dtrict. george bush only got 29% of my district. i was able to win, and decided to turn at into a senate race in 1994. >> we have elected presidents who have been in the senate or governor, you have not had any executive experience. >> we have had folks that only had legislative experience, guys like abraham lincoln, they did a good job in taking op that responsibility. you scombruft have to look at the person, their leadership qualities, their character they are ability to paint a vision for the country and lead, and articulate that vision. so you have to look at the people you are surrounded with,

the history of that person, and theiability to be able to work across the aisle in washington, d.c. it is highly unlikely you will have a situation like barack obama had with the super majority in the house and senate and be able to do things with one party. look at my time in the senate. we got a lot of things done. i was able to take leadership. i don't think anyone would have called me a quish on the issues. when i was in the senate, i was known as a fire brain conservative, but we got things done. >> is there one thing that you are particularly proud of in the senate or the house? >> i think of all the things i worked on, the welfare reform bill that passed, i had as much of an imprint on that bill as a lot of people had imprints on that. i am taking credit for offering it. i am taking credit for a l of things in there and the shape of it. i was in the house on e ways and means committee, and

happened to be the ranking member of the resources subcommittee in 19 the 3 and 1994. i was asked by the leader and gingrich to draft a welfare reform bill. so i chaired that process. and coming up with what was the contract for america welfare reform bill, it was our work product, my work product. then when i came to the senate, here aim a freshman member. welfare is a big issue. i worked with the chairman of the finance committee. both john ash croft and judd greg helped put the senate bill together. it turned out before the welfare bill was to come onto the floor the chairman of the senate bob packwood resigned. so we ended up with a new chair that didn't underand the bill so well, and in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

so i went to bob dole and said i would like to be involved in managing it. he said, well just get up there. you get up there and start talking and you know what you are talking about, and people will give you wr room. and in fact they d i ended up sitting in the chair for sometime and managing the debate and working with democrats as well as the administration. democrats in the senate as well as the administration in the house and putting together the final package. >> you lost your re-election bid for a third term. why did you lose? >> a lot of reasons. it was a bad election year. a lot of folks lost in 2006. it was a bad election year particularly in pennsylvania. we lost over six seats. our gubetorle candidate lost. we had a raft of sndals in pennsylvania. not related to me, but to two members of congress. one that had been out there for a while, and another occurred just two weeks before the election where a member of

congress -- i think his office or his daughter's office was raided by the f.b.i. so with all that was going on in washington, with the scandal there, it made republicans a bad brand. there are things i did. look, i wasn't shy about standing up and taking on the issues i cared about whether it was national security or the abortion issue. i was the leader on a lot of those issues. it was very devicive. marriage issue whichas particularly devicive. i touched the third rails of politics on social issues as well as sshtskrt. soci security. in 2005, i ran to the ramparts and was out there on the floor of the senate and pennsylvania. a whole series of town meetings on how we had to fix social security. pen espn the second old --

pennsylvania -- that effort did not work out. there are other things that went on. i was in the republican leership. i think when i got elected the first couple times i was seen as non someone who was out there sort of shaking up -- shaking things up. i make the argument, i continue to do so in leadership, but now i was part of the leadership. you are part of them as opposed to seen as outside that. so that and probably more. sort of create an environment whicwas not good in an election year where the president was sitting at the mid 30's in popularity in pennsylvania. >> as you know, often you learn more from losing than winning. did you learn anythin >> yeah, well i learned a lot of things. first off, i would say the most important lesson is that losing wasn't the most important thing that happened to you. not standing up and doing what is right is the worst thing that can happen to you.

while i don't like losing, i can say pretty clear i never looked back. i never felt bad. i wasn't sad at all. i could see on election night when i found out, e only thing i want to do on election night and i feel this way every time i go back to pennsylvania, is to get up and say thank you. thank you for giving the son of an italian immigrant who had zero name recognition when he first ran for office and was able to go out and take on the issues that i felt were important for the country. and the people of pennsylvania supported me. i just wanted to go out there and say thank you. anthat's what i do. every time i go out i say thank you foriving me this incredible blessing. the second big blessing was i alwa thought pennsylvaniaians gave me not what i always wanted

but what i needed. i was 48 years old. i had been in congress for 16 years. at the time we had six children we were raising and i need to get home. and it was a great blessing to me to be there over the last four years at a time when my children were going through some of the very important formative years. i'm not beating myself up too much as being a dad during my senate years but it was a busy, busy time, and it was always squeezing it n now i was able to coach little league and do the things that you really -- you should do as a partner as a panchte, as a father. -- as a partner as a parent, as a father. that was an important lesson for me and as a father. >> let me ask you about your state. you have been vocal when your catholicism. what does it mean tbe a public

official and also catholic? >> you know america is based op the cop concept madison called it the perfect remedy. the concept that people of faith and no faith are welcome into the public square to extoll their points of view whether they are motivated by faith or not. whether justified by faith or not. they have the right to come and to articulate that. i believe that's why we get along so well here in america. i grew up in western pennsylvania. there were a lot of serbs and croatians there. i never knew that serbs and croatians didn't get along because the ones i knew did. so this idea of division was foreign to me. why? because we welcomed everybody in. that's how i see faith. faith needs to be welcomed back into the publicquare. i am very forthright about my

faith in that it did help -- it did form my conscience. it had a huge influence in forming my conscience and has an influence on how i see the world. i am very up-front about that. the rson is because it is true. i think you see a lot of politicians well, i -- do they really? if that's the case, what does motivate you? what does inform your conscience? what moral view are you reflecting when you come into the public arena? i think there is some disingenuousness about it. i think this is something you learn more from losing than winning. i think the public has a right to know who you are why you think the way you do, and no guessing game as to what he is going to do on this or that or the other. you know. not to say there aren't nuances and you can look at my record and see lots of times where you know, depending on the bill and the certain situations you have

to use judgment. there is no you know, the teachings of your faith or reason don't always come to, you know, the same conclusion because of the facts and circumstances being different. having said that, how you approach an issue and your foundational prins principles, i think it is important for people to be transparent about that, and i am. . excuse me. 11 years.

after the constitution was ratified. and it turned on its head, because what the letter to the danbury baptist was jefferson saying to the baptists who wrote him, saying they were concerned about him interfering with religion and he said there is a wall of separation. they cannot do that. but kennedy turned that on its head. that was never the intention of jefferson. it was clearly not his intention. it is not the intention of madison, who said the perfect remedy bring it into the public square and so kennedy initiated a trend in this country that was exacerbated by the thinking of the 1960's and 1970's, as if there was no right

to claim public truth in the square. it was banned from the public discourse. whatever your faith, reason, clearly. i am a catholic. i subscribe to john paul faith in reason. they allow you to fly. you can arrive there by right reason as well as you can buy it. i applied both to my looki at these issues. it is important for folks in puic life who are asking or potentially asking to lead.

who are yoand why do you lieve what you believe? >> there is one ise that intersects religion and politics, including in pennsylvania. bishops do not want to served communion to catholics who are for abortion rights. >> i am a catholic in public life, not a clergyman. that is a private discussion between the bishop and the communicant. i would leave it at that and i trust the bishops to handle those things and for politicians to stand out of it. >> what shaped your views on abortion? >> the seed was planted by my parents, who were pro-life. i was ambivalent on this issue

when i first ran for congress. i was a 30 year-old guy who grew up in the 1960's and 1970's and have friends with different opinions on the issue. it was one of these things that bothered me and i stayed away from it and never took much of a position. i was sort of agnostic. i was comfortable with it. most americans are. they do not like it, but they see that we want to ban it. it is a tough issue. i was dating my wife whose father was a geneticist. i saw that as an opportunity to try to get an understanding of what were the facts and try to go through thecience on this. i tried to use reason. ani did. it was inescapable to me that the tide in the womb is the time at the moment of the best child in the womb is thchild at the time of conception. i found a moral inconsistency

with that, and inconsistency that i have talked about some with famously over the last few months. it immediately brought me back to the dred scott decision where we look at people who said even though they are human beings, we are not going to treat them with the same rights from the constitution. i could not sustain that from an argument point of view. it was not an issue when i was running for ngress. the man i was running against was pro-choice. i do not know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for me to be. i felt that that was where i had to go. >> would you overturn roe versus wade? >> absolutely. i think it was one of the

greatest abominations in the history of the courts. it creates a legal fiction that a human thing -- that a human being is not a person simply because it happens to be in a particular place. if we do that -- the rationale that we are seeing played out in court decisions is that -- we saw it in the partial birth abortion case. if a child in the born can be killed, how about a child almost in -- a child in the womb can be killed, how about a child almost in the womb? i said what about a child's but that is almost out of the womb? she spent 20 minutes try to answer the question. she said this is irrelevant.

i said, this is exactly the point. the court says, it is based on who the child -- where the child is, not who the child is. that is a legal fiction that is dehumanizing. we see that being appliedo those in the margins of life, those who are in chronically ill states or children who are born and have small chances of survival. having gone through that in my own life with our last child we face all of these things. i can tell you that it has been a tough journey, but it is one that i would never have passed up on to except life and take whatever life gives you. >> how did you meet your wife? >> i met her at the law firm.

she had been offered a summer associate position at the firm. i was asked by a friend who could not make the recruiting trip to combat her to say yes. we were going to take -- could not make the recruiting trip to convince her to say yes. she pleaded with me and i said no. so i went and i met my wife and the rest is history. >> married how many years? >> 21 years in june. >> you have eight childn, seven living. you lost a son. what happened? >> i had just been through -- and karen had just been through -- the first time i had ever spoken on the floor of the senate on the issue of abortion

was on the issue of partial birth abortion. it moved me when i found out about this. i had made the conscious decision not to stick your head out of the thoughtful on these issues. when you do, you get painted into a picture. once you do something like that you are painted as an ultra conservative because you dare talk about issues like like an abortion and marriage and things like that, which are taboo in the mainstream media. i kept my head down and i saw this happening and i saw this procedure. the president would veto a bill like that. i felt i had to go out there and do something. the man who is bill it was bob smith, was up for reelection six weeks after this debate was to occur in september of 1996.

he did not want to be about in a contentious pro-life battle before his election in new hampshire. he was looking for someone to take over. everybody stepped back and i was standing there. i took the reins. that was a time when i was out fighting to ban a procedure that was used late in pregnancy when the pregnancy had gone awry, there was something wrong with the child. i will never forgets, on a couple of occasions with dianne feinstein and barbara boxer, talking about the fact that karen was pregnant. i did not know whether the child would be well or not, it was still my son or my daughter and i would love them whatever the case was. we had a sonogram and the doctor look over at us and said

your son has a fatal defect and is going to die. talk about the world crashing down on you. obviously, we were heartbroken and we were angry. i was particularly angry. i thought, here i am fighting or all of these little kids, and this is the thanks i get from god. what we felt was necessary was weak spot for the life of our child. -- we did what we felt was necessary, we thought were the life of our child. i learned about surgery in utero. this was a he still be that that i thought might be able to be prepared -- be able to be prepared. we had the procedure done and it was successful.

as a result of the procedure karen got an infection in the womb. she said, give me some antibiotics. it is in her womb, and the infection was going to cause her to go into labor because the body which expelled the infection and deliver the child. little gabriel was born in pittsburgh in october of 1996. he lived two hours. i would say, what a great blessing that ly new love. he was with us f those two hours and we celebrated his life, as short as it was. we made sure his brothers and sisters saw him and knew that he was real and had the closure we felt was necessary. karen had been a nurse for many years.

one of the things she learned was the importance of recognizing the child, the humanity of that child and for the family to recognize that and to grieve and to recognize the loss. i can say with respect to our children who went through that, gabriel was seen as a great blessing, a little angel in heaven to helpn times of stress. there was that closure and god has been good. he has turned gabriels life -- karen in the up writing a book out what we went through called "letters to gabriel." that book sold 25,000 copies. there is not a week that goes by that i am not out on the stop somewhere and someone says, i read your wife's book and it has helped me so much through the grieving process of losing a

child. i would y to my kids, if they can have as much impact on the world for good as their brother did in two hours, they will be doing well. >> your oldest children is 19 --our oldest child is 19 and the youngest is 2 years old. she is a special needs child. >> karen was pregnant and doing the prenatal testing and the sonogram. they said, there is something not quite right and we cannot figure it out. when bella was delivered at 35 weeks, they had heard brought to the nicu to see what was wrong and they were not sure. they had to do some genetic testing. it was four days later that we found out she had a condition

that means you have 23 chromosome pairs. you get one each from the mother and the father. in her case, she got two. that can cause severe birth defects. in most cases, the child dies. only some cancer by. the most common is down syndrome. this condition has a much lower survival rate. we were on the internet as fast as you can imagine and on the statistics. bella was lucky that she was born alive because 90% of the children with this disorder cannot survive birth. the 10% that do survive die

within the first year, most within the first few months. we were told to have low expectations. when she was sent home after 10 days, she was sent home on hospice care. we were told to prepare for her to die. to my wife's credit, she never accepted that. she immediately was planning on her trip home. she signed up for pediatric visits we were going to do everything we can to give bella the best light possible as long as god was going to give her to us. when the kids saw her coming home, they put up a big sign welcoming her. every week, we wou have a birthday celebration. because we're not going to have

years, we are going to have weeks. every week we had a birthday party. it back to the point up a month and we said we will do it every month. we had birthday parties every month. now she is going to be three years old in may. we have gone through a lot. but she has been a great blessing to us. i always say that she makes us better. her humanity, the gift of love that she is. in the eyes of the world she cannot do a lot. she cannot see herself. -- feed herself. she does not talk, she makes noises. she may not ever be able to talk or walk, but she can love. she is infectious in our family. she is a great gift. >> there is no easy way to go

from that to my next question. as you think about this presidential campaign, how do you get the nomination? what is your strategy? >> just put 1 foot in front of the other. i feel like this is a situation where i had no intention of doing this in the first place. things just sort of happen. if this is what is supposed to happen, you just go out there and you take them one at a time. i did not know any other way to do it. there is no grand strategy. you go outo iowa and see how well you can do that. then you go out to new hampshire. there is no one is the strategy. u pick this state and do well here and there. my feeling is that if you are going to do this, go out and compete in every sta. every state bring something a little different. there are elements of the party

and elements of the independents in the states who can vote. you are going to have to appeal to southern republicans and midwest and republicans. i am not interested in developing a strategy to win the primary and n be in a position to win the general. i want to say, we have done well everywhere. that is a good, strong basis for us to be successful and make the case. the strategy is, work hard. that was something that might bother, who came here with my grandfather and grew up in a company town in western pennsylvania -- the one thing he hammered home to me is hard work. there is no substitute for hard work. that is the case here. some people will have more money and more name recognition.

hard work is the key to success in america. we decided to pull the trigger on this thing. maybe people with better name recognition will get more media attention. but no one is going to outworked us. that goes for karen and the family. we decided to do this and there is only one way to do it. that is the strategy. we are getting to the point where we are going to have to make some decisions. i feel comfortable that the message and the messenger are getting some traction out there in these early primary states. thbig question for me is the impact on my family and how i can balance those endless, which is not any -- to balance those entranced -- interests. that is not an easy thing to do.

once i have had a little time, we will make a decision one way or another. >> how do you assess the republican field with the names mentioned lately? >> i am more impressed with the republican field that i was in 2008. there are people who are good on issues. there was not so one -- someone who was the whole package. there was not someone who had a long, consistent record on conservatism across the board. we have a better reflection of the party in this group than in 2008. if i felt like there was someone who was really good, i would not be thinking of doing this.

with both my experience and my track record and my willingness to take on the tough issues and my ability to go out and communicate those issues in a way that was compelling in a state like pennsylvania and easier states that pennsylvania that we have to win to win the presidency, it is important to have someone who can do all those things -- be a good communicator, be someone with the courage of their convictions and take that vision for the future of our country. we have some folks out there that i like in i am impressed with. i think it will be an interesting primary if i decide to get into it. >> senator rick santorum, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. it is always good to be here. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> geraldine ferraro passed away saturday at the age of 75. she was the first union vice president nominee on a major party ticket and served as u.s. representative of new york for the ninth district and now, here is a look at the 1984 democratic national convention speech she gave in differences go. is about 30 minutes. -- in san francisco. ♪

♪ [cheers and applause]

[cheering]

>> ladies and gentlemen of the convention, my name is geraldine ferraro.

i stand before you to proclaim tonight, america is the land where dreams can come true for all of us. as i stand before the american people and think of the honor this great convention has bestowed upon me, i recall the words of dr. martin luther king jr., who made america stronger by making america more free. he said, "occasionally in life there are moments which cannot be completely explained by words.

their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart." tonight is such a moment for me. my heart is filled with pride. my fellow citizens, i proudly accept your nomination for vice president of the united states. [cheers and applause]

you are wonderful.

and i am proud to run with a man who will be one of the great presidents of this century, walter f. mondale. tonight, the daughter of a woman whose highest goal was a future for her children talks to our nation's oldest party about a future for us all. tonight, the daughter of working americans tells all americans that the future is

within our reach -- if we're willing to reach for it. tonight, the daughter of an immigrant from italy has been chosen to run for vice president in the new land my father came to love. our faith that we can shape a better future is what the american dream is all about. the promise of our country is that the rules are fair. if you work hard and play by the rules, you can earn your share of america's blessings.

those are the beliefs i learned from my parents. and those are the values i taught my students as a teacher in the public schools of new york city. at night, i went to law school. i became an assistant district attorney, and i put my share of criminals behind bars. i believe, if you obey the law you should be protected. but if you break the law, you should pay for your crime. when i first ran for congress, all the political experts said

a democrat could not win in my home district of queens. but i put my faith in the people and the values that we shared. and together, we proved the political experts wrong. in this campaign, fritz mondale and i have put our faith in the people. and we are going to prove the experts wrong again. [applause] we are going to win, because

americans across this country believe in the same basic dream. last week, i visited elmore, minnesota, the small town where fritz mondale was raised. and soon fritz and joan will visit our family in queens. nine hundred people live in elmore. in queens, there are 2,000 people on one block. you would think we would be different, but we're not. children walk to school in elmore past grain elevators. in queens, they pass by subway stops. but, no matter where they live, their future depends on

education, and their parents are willing to do their part to make those schools as good as they can be. [applause] in elmore, there are family farms, in queens small businesses. but the men and women who run them all take pride in supporting their families through hard work and initiative. on the fourth of july in elmore they hang flags out on main street. in queens, they fly them over grand avenue. but all of us love our country and stand ready to defend the freedom that it represents.

[applause] americans want to live by the same set of rules. but under this administration, the rules are rigged against too many of our people. it isn't right that every year, the share of taxes paid by individual citizens is going up while the share paid by large corporations is getting smaller and smaller. the rules say, everyone in our society should contribute their fair share. it isn't right that this year ronald reagan will hand the american people a bill for interest on the national debt

larger than the entire cost of the federal government under john f. kennedy. our parents left us a growing economy. the rules say, we must not leave our kids a mountain of debt. it isn't right that a woman should get paid 59 cents on the dollar for the same work as a man. [cheers and applause]

if you play by the rules you deserve a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. it isn't right that -- that if trends continue, by the year 2000 nearly all of the poor people in america will be women and children. the rules of a decent society say, when you distribute sacrifice in times of austerity, you don't put women and children first. it isn't right that young people today fear they won't get the social security they paid

for, and that older americans fear that they will lose what they have already earned. social security is a contract between the last generation and the next, and the rules say, you don't break contracts. we're going to keep faith with older americans. we hammered out a fair compromise in the congress to save social security. every group sacrificed to keep the system sound.

it is time ronald reagan stopped scaring our senior citizens. it isn't right that young couples question whether to bring children into a world of 50,000 nuclear warheads. that isn't the vision for which americans have struggled for more than two centuries. and our future doesn't have to be that way. change is in the air, just as surely as when john kennedy beckoned america to a new frontier, when sally ride rocketed into space and when

reverend jesse jackson ran for the office of president of the united states. [applause] by choosing a woman to run for our nation's second highest office, you sent a powerful signal to all americans. there are no doors we cannot unlock. we will place no limits on

achievement. if we can do this, we can do anything. tonight, we reclaim our dream. we're going to make the rules of american life work fairly for all americans again. to an administration that would have us debate all over again whether the voting rights act should be renewed and whether segregated schools should be tax exempt, we say, mr. president, those debates are over.

on the issue of civil, voting rights and affirmative action for minorities, we must not go backwards. we must -- and we will -- move forward to open the doors of opportunity. to those who understand that our country cannot prosper unless we draw on the talents of all americans, we say, we will

pass the equal rights amendment. [cheers and applause] [chanting "era! era!]

the issue is not what america can do for women, but what women can do for america. to the americans who will lead our country into the 21st century, we say, we will not have a supreme court that turns the clock back to the 19th century.

to those concerned about the strength of american family values, as i am, i say, we are going to restore those values -- love, caring, partnership -- by including, and not excluding those whose beliefs differ from our own. because our own faith is strong, we will fight to preserve the freedom of faith for others. to those working americans who fear that banks, utilities and large special interests have a lock on the white house, we say, join us, let's elect a people's president, and let's

have government by and for the american people again. to an administration that would savage student loans and education at the dawn of a new technological age, we say, you fit the classic definition of a cynic. you know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. to our students and their parents, we say, we will insist

on the highest standards of excellence because the jobs of the future require skilled minds. to young americans who may be called to our country's service, we say, we know your generation of americans will proudly answer our country's call, as each generation before you. this past year, we remembered the bravery and sacrifice of americans at normandy. and we finally paid tribute -- as we should have done years ago -- to that unknown soldier who represents all the brave young americans who died in vietnam. let no one doubt, we will defend america's security and

the cause of freedom around the world. but we want a president who tells us what america is fighting for, not just what we are fighting against. we want a president who will defend human rights -- not just where it is convenient -- but wherever freedom is at risk -- from chile to afghanistan, from poland to south africa. to those who have watched this administration's confusion in

the middle east, as it has tilted first toward one and then another of israel's long- time enemies and wondered. "will america stand by her friends and sister democracy?" we say, america knows who her friends are in the middle east and around the world. america will stand with israel always. finally, we want a president who will keep america strong, but use that strength to keep america and the world at peace. a nuclear freeze is not a

slogan, it is a tool for survival in the nuclear age. if we leave our children nothing else, let us leave them this earth as we found it -- whole and green and full of life. i know in my heart that walter mondale will be that president. a wise man once said, "every

one of us is given the gift of life and what a strange gift it is. if it is preserved jealously and selfishly, it impoverishes and saddens. but if it is spent for others, it enriches and beautifies." my fellow americans, we can debate policies and programs. but in the end what separates the two parties in this election campaign is whether we use the gift of life -- for others or only ourselves.

tonight, my husband, john, and our three children are in this hall with me. to my daughters, donna and laura, and my son, john jr., i say, my mother did not break faith with me, and i will not break faith with you. [applause] to all the children of america i say, the generation before ours kept faith with us, and like them, we will pass on to

you a stronger, more just america. thank you. ♪ ♪ >> geraldine ferraro passed away yesterday at the age of 75 from complications with cancer. she leaves behind her husband of 50 years and three children. right now, and a funeral plans have been made. monday president obama it is going to deliver a speech on libya from a university in washington d.c. he will give an update, including the actions the u.s.

is taking with partners and the transition to nato command and control. that is the president's speech on libya monday night, 7:30 p.m. on c-span and c-span3 note -- and c-span radio. the senate returns tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern, and it 3:00 p.m. they resumed debate on an authorization bill. at 4:30, they consider a district judge for new york. they will take a vote on the nomination at 5:30. live coverage of the u.s. senate when members return, always on c-span2, and the house returns with roll-call votes after 6:30 p.m.. the house is expected to debate the modification program. follow the house here live on c- span. >> as protests continued in the middle east, and as nato

attempts to take control of military operations in libya find the latest from u.n. security council officials and reaction from were leaders in the c-span video library all searchable from your computer any time. watch what you want, when you want. >> from today's "washington journal," the latest on the military action in libya. this is about 45 minutes. >> host: thank you for being with us. let's begin with some domestic news this morning. congress is coming back. the likelihood of government closing down rises. the president and vice president are back in town and congress coming back, what can we expect? guest: we know the two parties

are about $60 billion apart as far as how the government will be funded and obama is focused on libya and latin america last week. we have until april 8. both parties have been saying that they don't want to sign any more temporary agreements. you could be heading toward now or never. host: your colleague pointed out that there was a breakdown in negotiations last week between congressional leaders. where was the breakdown? guest: some of the democrats were more optimistic about how things were going and between the white house and republicans. we saw two different breakdowns last week. host: how serious is this if they don't reach an agreement? guest: i don't think we quite know. one issue is in terms of how it affects the economy more

broadly. we don't know big in effect that will have. we don't know how long it will last. both sides are trying to avoid the kind of shut down that will not last long. both sides want to avoid that situation. host: the president tomorrow will talk about our involvement in libya at 7:30 eastern t ime. guest: he is facing a lot questions at home and facing questions over there in the middle east. the questions he faces at home, many people in this country are wondering where the money is coming from to finance the campaign in libya. they're wondering what the

objectives of the campaign are. they're wondering what role the united states is playing as opposed to france and other members of nato. the questions being asked in the middle east -- is president obama getting rid of gaddafi. what position does he have on the libyan rebels in the post- gaddafi period? there are other issues concerning what is going on in jordan, syria, yemen. he suddenly has a lot to explain host: let me show you three have lies. -- let me show you three headlines.