Santorum Campaign Press Release - On Huckabee Tonight: Santorum Stands as the Consistent Full Spectrum Conservative Candidate for President

Verona, PA - At tonight's Republican Presidential Forum hosted by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum stood tall in support of the family values that make our nation the greatest in the history of the world.

SANTORUM SAID

On Strengthening The Family:

My wife Karen and I are the parents of seven children. Family is important to me and to America, and we have a government that has undermined the family. Look at our welfare programs, where parents stay unmarried so that the mother can receive welfare benefits. We are doing things to break families and we do not encourage marriage. There are things a president can do beyond laws. I wrote a book called "It Takes A Family." In the book, I talked about a program in Chattanooga, TN where the city, non-profits, and the educational community came together to promote marriage. The President has that power to convene.

On States Rights And Abortion:

I support Personhood Amendment to our Constitution to ban abortion, and that certainly involves the states through ratification. I have always been a supporter of uniform laws on values that undergird the family. That's why I supported the Federal Marriage Amendment - you cannot have 50 different marriage laws. And you cannot have 50 different abortion laws.

On The EPA:

We have seen a radical environmental policy that is based out of very poorly crafted legislation, with the Endangered Species Act as case in point. We have legislation that is too broadly crafted and gives too much authority to the agency to rewrite the law. I will not sign a reauthorization of these bills unless they are strictly crafted with definitions of what the laws are to do.

On The Separation Of Powers:

Our Founders created a separation of powers to protect the rights of the States and the citizens. Look at the Senate, it was originally selected by the states so that the states would have the belt and suspenders to keep power at the state level - closer to the people.

On the Defense of Marriage Act:

The President has an obligation to defend the laws of this country, and the Defense of Marriage Act passed overwhelmingly. When a law is challenged it is the obligation of the President to defend it... I would do everything to go around the courts if they struck down DOMA, and I've already done it. Look at the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. The Supreme Court called it unconstitutional, so we passed an almost identical bill, where the first two sections of the bill told the Court why they were wrong, and five years later the Court ruled that it was constitutional. The President and Congress are co-equal branches of the government to the Supreme Court!... The Courts are not the final arbiter, absolutely not!

In Closing:

Everyone says we need a truce on social issues, that we need to focus on jobs and the economy. But what is at the heart of this country is that America is a moral enterprise and we are sick at the heart of our country - when we see millions of children being aborted and marriage not being defended. A truce is not a truce, it is a surrender. I will not surrender, I will fight and defend America.