国际英语新闻:Romney booed for vowing to repeal Obama's health care reform at Houston convention

HOUSTON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney received boos when he promised to repeal the national health care law he calls "Obamacare" at a convention Wednesday in the fourth largest U.S. city of Houston.

"If our goal is jobs, we have to stop spending over a trillion dollars more than we take in every year. So to do that, I'm going to eliminate every non-essential, expensive program I can find. That includes Obamacare, and I'm going to work to reform and save - - " Romney said, drawing boos from audience at the annual meeting of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) in Houston.

But Romney was applauded at times in his speech, which hit on themes of jobs and the economy as well as education reform. The speech also included references to Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass.

Romney faced an uphill task politically in speaking before the NAACP, an African-American civil rights organization formed in the U.S. in 1909. In 2008, President Barack Obama won 96 percent of the African-American vote on his way to become the country's first black president.

Romney joked about the fact that he's unlikely to win support from African American voters. "I appreciate the chance to speak first -- even before Vice President Biden gets his turn tomorrow," he said. "I just hope the Obama campaign won't think you're playing favourites."

Romney's speech highlighted the theme of improving the economy. He also spoke with reverence toward the legacy of his father George Romney, a former Republican governor who broke with his party at times over the issue of civil rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld the crucial part of Obama's signature health care overhaul in a widely anticipated ruling, putting an end to months of speculations over one of the hottest issues on the campaign trail.

The Affordable Care Act has been viewed as Obama's chief yet most controversial domestic accomplishment.

The Supreme Court decided the overhaul, including its " individual mandate" that virtually requires most Americans to buy health insurance, is constitutional.

Earlier this month, Texas Governor Rick Perry, joining a growing list of Republican governors, said the state will not implement key portions of Obama's healthcare legislation.