Party Platform
Our Mission
The Republican Party is a party by the people and for the people. We appreciate the productivity of our citizens, affirm the infinite worth of all individuals, and seek the best possible quality of life for all. We invite all citizens to join us in working together for a better county
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Preamble
We, the Republican Party of Salt Lake County, affirm our belief in God and declare our support for government based upon a moral and spiritual foundation. We affirm freedom for every individual as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and protected by the Constitution. We believe that citizens’ needs are best met through free enterprise, private initiative, and volunteerism. We support the “Rule of Law” and believe in upholding the law of the land.
We believe government properly exists by the consent of the governed and must be restrained from intruding into the freedoms of its citizens. The function of government is not to grant rights, but to
protect the unalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We recognize the rights of the individual to own property. We resist any effort by government to take private property without an overwhelming need for public use. We strongly oppose the forfeiture of private property from innocent owners.
We oppose congressional, judicial, and executive abrogation of the principle that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. We oppose unreasonable and intrusive federal mandates. Municipal, county, state and federal governments each have rights and duties that should not be infringed upon or usurped by other government entities.
We demand honesty, integrity, morality, and accountability of our public officials. We will work to expose and stop corruption.
We support a military force of sufficient strength and readiness including a robust nuclear deterrent to deter any threat to our national sovereignty or to the safety and freedom of our citizens. We strongly support and honor the selfless service and sacrifices of Utah’s military service members and veterans
along with their families. We also strongly support legislation at the state and national levels to protect our electrical power grid against Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack. We oppose placement of United States troops under any foreign command, including the United Nations. We support the Constitutional mandate to protect and secure our national borders. We support lawful efforts of local law enforcement agencies to protect citizens in their homes and in their communities. We urge reform of the legal system
to accomplish a swift and balanced administration of justice, including consideration of rights of the victim. We support capital punishment when appropriate.
We support the individual constitutionally-protected right of the people to keep and bear arms for security and defense of self, family, others, property, or the state, as well as for other lawful purposes. We encourage personal responsibility for the care and use of these firearms.
We claim freedom of religion for every citizen and expect the protection of government in securing to us this unalienable right. We affirm the right to religious expression, including prayer, in both private and public.
We recognize the traditional family as the fundamental unit of society. We agree with the Utah State Constitution, Article 1, Section 29, where it affirms that “Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman.” We affirm that parents have the fundamental right and primary responsibility to direct the upbringing of their children and to provide nurturing care, discipline and training in moral values. We oppose any efforts that seek to undermine a strong family unit, as we believe the American family is the foundation of a civil society. We support current Utah law which
requires that sex education in the classroom stress abstinence before marriage and fidelity after marriage. We believe pornography is a public health crisis and support efforts by our state and national leaders to oppose it
We believe in the right to life for both the born and unborn. We strongly oppose abortion, except to preserve the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. We believe the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We believe all human life is sacred regardless of age
or infirmity, and therefore we oppose abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and the public funding of any of these abhorrent practices.
We believe that the primary responsibility for meeting basic human needs rests with the individual, the family, and the voluntary charitable organizations. We recognize, however, that there are special social needs which must be addressed through county human service programs. We support requiring welfare recipients to work towards self-sufficiency.
We recognize the contributions made to our quality of life through ethnic diversity. We support the rule of law and legal immigration to the United States. We believe that control of our borders is an urgent national security interest. We encourage a civil discourse as we address the future of immigration.
We believe that no individual is entitled to rights that exceed or supersede the God-given individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Utah.
We believe that all children should have access to quality education. Parents have the primary right and responsibility to educate their children, and we support their right to choose public, private, or home education. We support incentives to promote competitive excellence. We encourage cooperative
initiatives to help all Utahans become literate in English. We support the prudent and profitable use of school trust lands. We support all interest and dividends from the permanent State School Fund being distributed to each public and charter school to improve student academic performance.
We are committed to fiscal responsibility and oppose any legislation which does not promote a balanced budget. We believe that deficit spending on the state and national level is unethical and we support cutting wasteful programs wherever possible. We accept the necessity for limited taxation in order for
government to perform and administer those services which meet essential public needs. However, we recognize that the power to tax is also the power to control, and believe that the best way to control government is to strictly limit the amount of taxes imposed on the people. We encourage further
simplification of tax systems, the elimination of the estate tax, and broad-based rate reduction where possible.
We recognize that government regulation can be a major impediment to productivity and to competition. We must rely more on market forces and less on government. Regulatory power now exercised by the federal government must be eliminated or returned to state and local governments.
We believe that a strong, diversified economy based on a positive work ethic, a well trained and well
educated work force, a business-friendly environment, and safe work place will help Utah compete in a global marketplace. We believe deregulation and privatization promote a healthy economy and that government should not influence or compete in private markets. We are in servitude to the state when the state usurps the power to determine the value of our labor or our property. We believe that developing our human resources is essential to the future of Utah. We believe that America’s free enterprise system is the best economic system ever devised to ensure equal opportunity and increased
prosperity for all of our citizens. We support efforts by our elected national leaders to put our country first, eliminate our massive trade deficit and support free and fair trade. We oppose federal subsidies
and bailouts to large corporations and small businesses. We support the Utah Right to Work Law.
We appreciate the quality of our environment. Our air, water, and land are at the heart of our existence and must be protected through balanced management. We support reasonable laws and volunteer efforts to improve air and water quality. We continue to seek responsible solutions to controversies surrounding uses of our wilderness. We seek to preserve the environment while serving the best interests of our Salt Lake County citizens. We oppose as unconstitutional the declaration by any President without approval from Congress of any large tract of land as a national monument. We call on the Governor of the State of Utah to use the Constitutional Defense Fund and other resources at his
disposal to bring any such declaration affecting Utah before the United States Supreme Court for
reversal.
The jury is a fundamental institution of liberty, because it is the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution. The jury has the right and the authority to acquit if jurors feel justice will be served.
Revised, April 13th, 2019