PRESS
RELEASE from RNC Committee on Arrangements
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
Contact:
James
Davis
or
Kyle
Downey
|
August
16, 2012
|
|
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus Announces Six
Republican Convention Headliners
Tampa, Fla. –
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus today announced
six headliners addressing the Republican National Convention August
27-30. The speakers are:
- U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte,
United
States Senator from New Hampshire and former New Hampshire
Attorney General.
- Former Democratic National
Convention Speaker Artur Davis,
former Alabama congressman from the 7th District (2003-2011) who was
the first member of Congress not from Illinois to endorse President
Obama in 2008. Davis, then a Democrat, seconded the official nomination
of Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He recently
announced he is joining the Republican Party and supporting Mitt
Romney.
- Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal,
55th
Governor
of Louisiana, winning election in 2007 and winning
reelection in all of the state’s 64 parishes in 2011; former U.S.
Congressman; led the state’s response to the catastrophic oil spill in
the Gulf in 2010.
- Congressman Connie Mack won
the
Republican
nomination for the U.S. Senate in Florida on August 14th
and was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in
November 2004.
- Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell,
chairman
of
the Republican Governors Association and chairman of the
Republican National Convention Committee on Resolutions, commonly known
as the Platform Committee.
- U.S. Senator Rob Portman,
U.S. Senator from Ohio who won election in 2010 by 18 points, winning
82 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and former Congressman from Ohio’s 2nd
district. He is also a former U.S. Trade Representative and former
Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“This exciting
group of headliners includes two successful governors, two outstanding
senators, the next senator from our convention state, and a former
Co-Chairman of the 2008 Obama campaign. The perspectives and ideas they
bring to the convention stage will show all Americans that Romney and
Ryan are the ticket to a better future. Former Congressman Davis
especially will give voice to the frustration and disappointment felt
among those who supported President Obama in 2008 and are now hungry
for a new direction,” Chairman Priebus said.
Republican
National Convention Chief Executive Officer William Harris said, “These
speakers will offer a variety of insights into why we need new
leadership in Washington, D.C. and how important it is for us to stand
unified as we nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.”
U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte
“Our country
is facing great challenges, and the nomination of Mitt Romney to be our
next president at the Republican National Convention will be a critical
step for us to begin cleaning up the mess in Washington. With 42
straight months of over eight percent unemployment, it’s clear that the
policies of the last three and a half years have failed. Governor
Romney is committed to making us stronger both here at home and
throughout the world, and he will start by getting America’s fiscal
house in order and putting us on a path to a brighter economic future.”
Former Democratic National Convention
Speaker Artur Davis
“The talk and
inspiration moved so many of us four years ago, but unfortunately we
haven’t seen the action to back it up. We were promised jobs and we got
job-killing mandates and regulations. We were promised a fiscally
responsible government, and we got trillion dollar deficits, debt that
has never been seen, and small business burdened with new taxes, and
threatened with more taxes. The time for talk is over. At the
Republican National Convention in Tampa, Republicans take a step to
undo the mismanagement and nominate Mitt Romney as the next president
of the United States.”
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
“The American
people are smart. We know that if we don’t change leadership soon, our
country will continue on a path toward Europe and away from the
principles of free market and limited government that have made this
country the greatest nation in the world. I look forward to talking
about the important choice facing our nation. We can either go the way
of Europe, grow the public sector and make Americans more dependent on
government or we can get behind Mitt Romney, reinvigorate the private
sector and get our people back to work.”
U.S. Congressman Connie Mack
“I am proud to
be able to represent Florida and be a part of officially nominating
Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States. We will come
together as a party and a country at the convention to demand a change
of leadership in Washington, D.C. Our voices have been ignored long
enough. For nearly four years, Washington’s Lockstep Liberals have
forced the government takeover of healthcare and saddled us with
job-killing regulations, more taxes, more spending and more debt. That
ends this year. The American people are demanding change, and change is
on its way.”
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
“It is time
for a change in America. President Obama’s policies have failed to get
our economy turned around and our nation out of debt. I am excited to
be a part of the Republican National Convention that will help send
Mitt Romney to the White House. Governor Romney is a proven job-creator
who knows that in order to grow our national economy, government has to
be run like a business – we need to cut spending, demand accountability
and results, and live within our means. It has worked in Virginia and
it will work for America. Mitt Romney will get America back on track
and Americans back to work.”
U.S. Senator Rob Portman
“I am looking
forward to speaking at the convention in Tampa. Nominating Mitt Romney
to be our next president will be a momentous occasion for our party and
our country. We are facing tremendous challenges that demand bold
action and decisive leadership. Mitt Romney is not just a friend, he is
the experienced leader we need at this critical point in our nation’s
history.”