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Fall Formal Academic Convocation

Friday, August 29, 2008 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

PLEASE note that this Formal Academic event is for University students, faculty and staff only. 

Senator Rick Santorum to Speak at Convocation

Senator Rick Santorum, United States Senator from Pennsylvania (1995-2007) and Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference (2001-2006), is scheduled to speak at AMU's Fall Formal Academic Convocation on August 29th.

In 1990, overcoming extraordinary odds, Santorum ran an energetic, grassroots campaign and became the U.S. Representative for the 18th District of Pennsylvania.

As an organizer of the renowned "Gang of Seven," a group of newly elected House members focused on cleaning up the abuse and corruption then plaguing the House of Representatives, Senator Santorum helped to uncover House banking and post office scandals, illegal and immoral schemes which resulted in powerful members of Congress being convicted of stealing taxpayers' money.

He was re-elected in 1992 and, in 1995, was sworn-in as Pennsylvania's U.S. Senator at 36 years of age. He was re-elected in 2000 and served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference - the third-ranking (and youngest) member of the Republican Leadership.

As a Senator, Rick Santorum was a passionate advocate for the things that he thought best for Pennsylvania, for his constituents, for the country and ultimately for the world. He founded the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom and spearheaded passage of a ban on partial-birth abortion, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, the Combating Autism Act, Global Aids Authorization Act, Health Savings Accounts and the Iran Freedom Support Act.

Senator Santorum is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, an institute dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy.

His wife, Karen, a Pittsburgh native from a large Irish-Catholic family, is a former neonatal intensive care nurse and has a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

The Santorums are the parents of seven children; son Gabriel Michael, born with a defect, died within two hours of his birth. Karen Santorum's book, Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum, is a compilation of letters she wrote daily to her unborn son. Rick Santorum authored It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good.

Recipients of the John Paul II Award, Rick and Karen Santorum were recognized by the Institute for Psychological Sciences for "championing women and unborn children." The Santorums were also invested as knight and dame of Magistral Grace of the Knights of Malta. †

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