Fact check: What Rick Santorum said at the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner

Claim: “I was the author of the Welfare Reform bill."

What you should know: Santorum helped write what would eventually become the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

A 1993 Washington Post article described Santorum, then a member of the House, as co-chairman of the House Republican task force that drafted the GOP welfare reform bill.

According to Politifact, that bill sputtered, but when Santorum was elected to the Senate in 1994, he was once again involved in reforming welfare.

Claim: “Twelve years ago, I introduced a bill on Iran to put sanctions in place, you know those crushing sanctions that brought Iran to the table, I was the author that put those sanctions in law, twelve years ago and I was opposed by none other than Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the process.”

What you should know: In July 2004, Senator Santorum introduced the Iran Freedom and Support Act. It was a bill establishing a program to support a transition to democracy in Iran. The bill was never enacted.

The next year, Santorum introduced the Iran Freedom and Support Act of 2005. The bill included a section codifying existing sanctions, but never went anywhere.

The next year, according to the Washington Post, Santorum added the bill as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

The amendment failed. Clinton and Senator Obama did vote against it, but so did 14 Republicans including Senator John McCain.

The Bush Administration also lobbied against it.

A few months later, the House introduced the Iran Freedom Support Act that included sanctions. It passed in the House and Senate and President Bush signed it into law.