Washington, August 11 (Xinhua-RHC) – The U.S. Republican Party presidential nominee, Mitt Romney formally announced U.S. Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate, ending weeks of intense speculation.

While making the announcement on Saturday, Romney welcomed the Wisconsin congressman on board his “America’s Comeback Team” in Norfolk, Virginia, in front of USS Wisconsin, a battleship of the Second World War era, decommissioned in 1991.

In the cheers of supporters, the two appeared together for the first time as the Republican pair to face against sitting Democratic President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Romney acclaimed Ryan as the “intellectual leader” of the Republican Party. The 42-year-old Wisconsin lawmaker, who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee, has been leading the Republicans’ efforts earlier this year to bring their own fiscal year 2013 budget plan, dubbed as “Ryan Budget,” against the Obama administration’s plan.

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