Rick Santorum in 2012 Republican National Convention speeches

On Families & Children: Marriage disappears where government dependency is highest

Graduate from high school, work hard, and get married before you have children and the chance you will ever be in poverty is just 2%. Yet if you don't do these three things you're 38 times more likely to end up in poverty!

We understand many Americans don't succeed because the family that should be there to guide them, and serve as the first rung on the ladder of success, isn't there or is badly broken.

The fact is that marriage is disappearing in places where government dependency is highest. Most single mothers do heroic work and an amazing job raising their children, but if America is going to succeed, we must stop the assault on marriage and the family.

On Families & Children: Severely disabled daughter is still life worth living

Four and a half years ago I stood over a hospital isolette staring at the tiny hands of our newborn daughter who we hoped was perfectly healthy. But Bella's hands were just a little different--and I knew different wasn't good news.

The doctors later told us Bella was incompatible with life and to prepare to let go. They said, even if she did survive, her disabilities would be so severe that Bella would not have a life worth living.

We didn't let go and today Bella is full of life and she has made our lives and countless others much more worth living.

I thank God that America still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of God's children--born and unborn--and says that each of us has dignity and all of us have the right to live the American Dream.

On Immigration: My grandfather immigrated for American Dream, not benefits

My grandfather, like millions of other immigrants, didn't come here for some government guarantee of income equality or government benefits to take care of his family. In 1923 there were no government benefits for immigrants except one: Freedom!

Under President Obama, the dream of freedom and opportunity has become a nightmare of dependency with almost half of America receiving some government benefit. It is no surprise fewer and fewer Americans are achieving their dreams and more and more parents are concerned their children won't realize theirs.

On Welfare & Poverty: FactCheck: Obama waived workfare? No, he leaves it to states

"This summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare," Santorum said in his RNC speech. "I helped write the welfare reform bill; we made the law crystal clear--no president can waive the work requirement. But as with his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, President Obama rules like he is above the law."

PolitiFact checked the claim that Obama ended welfare work requirements. In reality, the Obama administration has said it will consider proposals from states that are aimed at finding better ways of getting welfare recipients into jobs.