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Sen. Santorum: Bob Casey Aids Terrorism
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., accused his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., of "aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide" by allowing state pension funds to be invested in companies linked to rogue nations. The charge drew a sharp rebuke yesterday from Casey, who called the allegations "wild and outrageous."
Appearing yesterday in Philadelphia with Missouri state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, a Republican who has pressed the terrorist-investment issue in her state, Santorum said Casey should be doing more to divest $6.5 billion from companies that do business in nations such as Syria and Sudan.
Santorum cited a 2004 report from the Center for Security Policy, a Washington think tank, which studied the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System, the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System, and pension funds around the country.
"I'm the one trying to fight this war politically and economically so we don't have to fight it militarily, and he is asleep at the switch because he's not doing his job," said Santorum, who is seeking his third term.
Casey, a board member for both pension funds, said he has taken steps to prevent pension dollars from going to companies that do business with nations linked to terrorism. Last month, he said, he called on the Bush administration to release a list of such companies, but was "stonewalled." Casey said he also sent a letter on Sept. 1 to investment managers to assess whether any companies in their holdings do business in terrorist sponsoring countries.
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"It's a really desperate campaign," Casey said of Santorum after a rally in Berks County.
Steelman said state treasurers should not wait on a list from the federal government.
Casey said the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System considered following the California pension board in hiring a private firm to provide a report on companies linked to nations supporting terrorism, but found the reports to be "worthless," as did California, said Larry Smar, Casey's campaign spokesman.
The Casey campaign criticized Santorum for receiving more than $50,000 in campaign contributions from four companies identified as having business ties in nations supporting terrorism - UBS, Siemens, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank. Santorum said his campaign would give the money to charity.
"We will give it away, even though it is fundamentally different: American citizens giving me campaign contributions, and taking police officers' and firefighters' money and investing it in Syria and Sudan," Santorum said. "They try to bring up these moral equivalencies."
Santorum appeared at news conferences Sunday in Pittsburgh and yesterday in Philadelphia with Steelman, who began pressing her state's pension boards last year. Missouri has hired a private company to screen investments, which Santorum said he favored.
Santorum also criticized Casey for not releasing information on where the state Treasury Department is investing money.
The department is in the process of complying with a complicated "fishing expedition" filed by Santorum's campaign, Smar said.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note:
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