July 18, 2016
Release

Governor Mary Fallin, Co-Chair of the 2016 Republican National Convention platform committee, presented the platform today to the full GOP convention for approval, which the delegates approved. As part of the presentation, the Governor gave the following remarks:

"It has been a pleasure and an honor to have served as the co-chair of this year’s RNC Platform Committee with our Chairman, Senator John Barasso, and Co-Chair, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. We accomplished what few thought was possible: we have come together as one party with one platform that represents a wide range of views and policies. We have created a winning, conservative platform, and a path forward for not just our party but for our nation.

A platform, to me, is among the most important work we do as a party. It is a reflection of who we are and what we stand for, perhaps more than any other single document we produce. It can change the way people think, and the direction of our country.

That is what it did for me.

When I was 21, my parents told me to vote, and to vote as a Democrat. They were deeply committed to their party and I knew what they expected of me. But they also taught me to be an independent thinker, and that year I was shown by a friend a one page summary of the Republican platform: 10 principles that defined who Republicans were. I compared it line-by-line to the Democrats, and for all my family’s history, this one document, this one party platform, made me into a Republican.

I have seen how this process works, and I have compared it to our Democratic colleagues. Ours was an open, bottom-up process, with the participation of 112 committed delegates. We read comments and ideas from good Republicans from around the country online and through 11 listening sessions. We also televised our deliberations. We came together on principles based on core values to family, a strong national defense and law enforcement, and freedom and the liberty. We never forget these are what make Americans exceptional, values that some take for granted, which is something we Republicans will never do.

The Democrat’s process has not been all that different from the way they did it back in my parent’s day: in a back room, with 15 individuals handpicked by entitled leaders in a secretive process, away from the view of not only of Democrats, but of the American people. It has been a top-down process, and the result will be a platform representative of a house divided, without a vision that addresses most important concerns of Americans today.

I want to thank our leaders, particularly the 112 members of the platform committee, and our dedicated staff for their hard work and commitment to unity as we go into the fall. The document we produced is one that we, our elected officials, and our party can be proud of."

                                                                     -- Governor Mary Fallin

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