GOP approves party platform

Republicans adopted a party platform at their convention Tuesday that would repeal President Obama's healthcare law, keep marriage between a man and a woman, limit abortions, defend religious freedoms and gun rights and call for a balanced-budget amendment for the United States.

Committee on Resolutions Chairman and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) called the platform a “blueprint and declaration of values.”

“This ambitious blueprint suggests a sea change,” McDonnell said. “It tells the truth about 'ObamaCare' and the need to repeal and replace it.”

The committee co-chairmen, Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), said the platform gives states more power to make decisions.

Hoeven said the platform urges the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and other job-creating measures. 

“From this day forward, the GOP will be known as the Great Opportunity Party,” Blackburn said. 

Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) presided over the vote to approve the platform.

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