Donald L. Ritter
Encyclopedia
Donald Lawrence "Don" Ritter (born October 21, 1940) was a Republican
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
. He represented Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
from 1979 to 1993.
, in New York City
, the son of Frank and Ruth Ritter. He attended New York City's P.S. 70 Elementary School, the Joseph H. Wade Junior High School, and the Bronx High School of Science
. He then attended Lehigh University
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
, graduating with a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering in 1961. He went on to receive an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
in 1963 and an Sc.D. (Doctor of Science in Physical Metallurgy) from M.I.T. in 1966. He worked as a research assistant at M.I.T. (while obtaining his doctorate) from 1961 to 1966.
-Soviet Academy of Sciences, Baikov Institute in Moscow
from 1967 to 1968. He was an assistant professor at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
, and a contract consultant for General Dynamics
, Pomona from 1968 to 1969.
He was a metallurgy
faculty member and assistant to the vice president for research at Lehigh University from 1969 to 1976, and later the manager of research program development at Lehigh University from 1976 to 1979. He also worked as an engineering consultant to industry.
in 1979, defeating 16-year incumbent Democrat Fred B. Rooney
. He was reelected to six succeeding Congresses. He held the seat for seven terms, or 14 years, until losing it to challenger Paul F. McHale, Jr.
in the 1992 election.
Ritter represented the Lehigh Valley
region of Pennsylvania
, including the cities of (Allentown
, Bethlehem
and Easton
). As a senior member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
and United States House Committee on Science and Technology, Ritter sought to bring a greater degree of science to the legislative process, particularly to environmental and energy regulation, and was often referred to by peers as a "scientist-congressman." He is one of the few Sc.D.-level scientists to ever serve in the U.S. Congress.
Ritter's Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania district had a substantial industrial (corporate and labor union) and university constituency. Ritter was a supporter of free market
, small government policies, though he also cast trade votes in favor of his district's steel
and apparel industries. At the same time, Ritter supported the North American Free Trade Agreement
when it was debated and passed in the House.
Ritter was the leading advocate in the Congress for the use of Risk assessment
to put hazards, particularly energy and environmental ones, in more rational perspective that he believed better prioritized and reduced risks that were most dangerous to people's health and the environment. In that regard, Ritter often clashed heavily with Washington, D.C. environmental lobbying groups.
Ritter was a Congressional champion for the Total Quality Movement in the United States, building bridges into the U.S. Congress for world TQM founders and leaders such as W. Edwards Deming
, Joseph M. Juran
and Armand V. Feigenbaum
. He also started Quality Valley USA in his district to further total quality management
and the economic advantage to be derived from it by its citizens and workers.
In his district, Ritter promoted the Lehigh River
as a "linear environmental center-of-gravity" to serve the leisure, recreation and creative economic development needs of his constituents. Later, Ritter authored, along with neighboring Pennsylvania Congressman Peter H. Kostmayer
, legislation that created the Lehigh-Delaware National Heritage Corridor, which has since become a primary environmental and recreational focus in the Lehigh Valley.
Ritter also championed human rights
. Having lived in the former Soviet Union
and speaking fluent Russian
, he opposed what he saw as Soviet expansionist activity in Afghanistan
, Cuba
, Central America
, Eastern Europe
, the Baltic states
, Ukraine
and elsewhere. In addition to his service on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
, Ritter was the founding chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Baltic States and Ukraine whose co-chairman was U.S. Senator Don Riegle
(D-MI). In addition to being one of the few Sc.D.-level scientists in the history of the Congress, he also was one of the few to ever speak Russian fluently.
With respect to Ritter's 14-year voting record in the U.S. Congress, he enjoyed consistently high rankings from conservative interest groups and correspondingly low rankings from liberal ones. However, he represented a district that, while ancestrally Democratic, had a considerable tinge of social conservatism
. Also, substantial numbers of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian-Americans resided in his Lehigh Valley district and supported Ritter's strong anti-Communism
.
in 1979. He spent the next 10 years in Congress working with Afghans to evict the Soviet invaders. Ritter speaks fluent Russian and had studied Russian literature
, culture and history
as a hobby while at M.I.T.
He authored the "Material Assistance" to Afghanistan legislation in the Congress (Ritter-Tsongas
) in 1982, created the Congressional Task Force on Afghanistan (Ritter-Humphrey
) to promote such "material assistance" of all kinds to the Afghan resistance, convened meetings on Afghanistan with representatives of the United States Department of State
, Defense Intelligence Agency
, Central Intelligence Agency
and Federal Bureau of Investigation
to enhance U.S. assistance to the Afghan resistance fighters, and used his ranking position on the Congressional Helsinki Commission, extending its purview away from its traditional focus on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, to call attention to the Soviets' illegal invasion, occupation and destruction of Afghanistan, which violated the Helsinki Accords
.
NEPI conducted two large "working groups" of some 40 to 50 individuals from different perspectives, Reinventing EPA and Environmental Policy, which at the time built on Vice President Al Gore
's "Reinventing Government" "Democratizing Environmental Policy" initiatives. Both involved greater involvement of the scientific community and bipartisan representation from the states and localities, plus leadership in the Congress and the Administration. Numerous publications resulted from NEPI and collaborating institutions and individuals. NEPI's annual national "Reinventing EPA and Environmental Policy" Conferences in Washington drew participation of some 250-300 people and leadership from those same bodies, including Governors, Mayors, State Legislators, Chairmen of Congressional Committees, Cabinet members, Environmental Protection Agency
Administrators and White House
officials, environmental advocacy group, leaders, and leading legal and scientific figures. NEPI also conducted working groups on policy implication of highly technical but policy-significant issues of bioavailability
and sediment
s.
, in the Lehigh Valley, for 25 years. He now resides in Washington, D.C.
, but has spent some one-third of his time in Afghanistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks
.
He was formerly married to Edith Duerksen Ritter with whom he has two children, a son, Jason Alexei, and a daughter, Kristina Larissa.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He represented Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District is located in eastern Pennsylvania, comprising all of Northampton County, most of Lehigh County, and small parts of Berks and Montgomery Counties...
from 1979 to 1993.
Early life and education
Ritter was born in Washington Heights, ManhattanWashington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the son of Frank and Ruth Ritter. He attended New York City's P.S. 70 Elementary School, the Joseph H. Wade Junior High School, and the Bronx High School of Science
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
. He then attended Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
, graduating with a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering in 1961. He went on to receive an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
in 1963 and an Sc.D. (Doctor of Science in Physical Metallurgy) from M.I.T. in 1966. He worked as a research assistant at M.I.T. (while obtaining his doctorate) from 1961 to 1966.
Academic and private work
Ritter was a scientific exchange fellow for the United States National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
-Soviet Academy of Sciences, Baikov Institute in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
from 1967 to 1968. He was an assistant professor at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, or Cal Poly Pomona, is a public university located in Pomona, California, United States...
, and a contract consultant for General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
, Pomona from 1968 to 1969.
He was a metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
faculty member and assistant to the vice president for research at Lehigh University from 1969 to 1976, and later the manager of research program development at Lehigh University from 1976 to 1979. He also worked as an engineering consultant to industry.
House of Representatives
After winning a 5-way primary election, Ritter was elected as a Republican to the 96th United States Congress96th United States Congress
The Ninety-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1981, during the last two years...
in 1979, defeating 16-year incumbent Democrat Fred B. Rooney
Fred B. Rooney
Frederick Bernard Rooney, Jr. was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania....
. He was reelected to six succeeding Congresses. He held the seat for seven terms, or 14 years, until losing it to challenger Paul F. McHale, Jr.
Paul F. McHale, Jr.
Paul F. McHale, Jr. is an American politician. He was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and from 1993 to 1999, he represented Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives....
in the 1992 election.
Ritter represented the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
region of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, including the cities of (Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
and Easton
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
). As a senior member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...
and United States House Committee on Science and Technology, Ritter sought to bring a greater degree of science to the legislative process, particularly to environmental and energy regulation, and was often referred to by peers as a "scientist-congressman." He is one of the few Sc.D.-level scientists to ever serve in the U.S. Congress.
Ritter's Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania district had a substantial industrial (corporate and labor union) and university constituency. Ritter was a supporter of free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
, small government policies, though he also cast trade votes in favor of his district's steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and apparel industries. At the same time, Ritter supported the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
when it was debated and passed in the House.
Ritter was the leading advocate in the Congress for the use of Risk assessment
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a step in a risk management procedure. Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat...
to put hazards, particularly energy and environmental ones, in more rational perspective that he believed better prioritized and reduced risks that were most dangerous to people's health and the environment. In that regard, Ritter often clashed heavily with Washington, D.C. environmental lobbying groups.
Ritter was a Congressional champion for the Total Quality Movement in the United States, building bridges into the U.S. Congress for world TQM founders and leaders such as W. Edwards Deming
W. Edwards Deming
William Edwards Deming was an American statistician, professor, author, lecturer and consultant. He is perhaps best known for his work in Japan...
, Joseph M. Juran
Joseph M. Juran
Joseph Moses Juran was a 20th century management consultant who is principally remembered as an evangelist for quality and quality management, writing several influential books on those subjects. He was the brother of Academy Award winner Nathan H...
and Armand V. Feigenbaum
Armand V. Feigenbaum
Armand Vallin Feigenbaum is an American quality control expert and businessman. He devised the concept of Total Quality Control, later known as Total Quality Management ....
. He also started Quality Valley USA in his district to further total quality management
Total Quality Management
Total quality management or TQM is an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and processes....
and the economic advantage to be derived from it by its citizens and workers.
In his district, Ritter promoted the Lehigh River
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, is a river located in eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. Part of the Lehigh, along with a number of its tributaries, is designated a Pennsylvania Scenic River by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources...
as a "linear environmental center-of-gravity" to serve the leisure, recreation and creative economic development needs of his constituents. Later, Ritter authored, along with neighboring Pennsylvania Congressman Peter H. Kostmayer
Peter H. Kostmayer
Peter Houston Kostmayer is a Democratic politician who served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
, legislation that created the Lehigh-Delaware National Heritage Corridor, which has since become a primary environmental and recreational focus in the Lehigh Valley.
Ritter also championed human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. Having lived in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and speaking fluent Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, he opposed what he saw as Soviet expansionist activity in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and elsewhere. In addition to his service on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe , also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent U.S. Government agency created by Congress in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE commitments. It was established in 1976 pursuant to...
, Ritter was the founding chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Baltic States and Ukraine whose co-chairman was U.S. Senator Don Riegle
Donald W. Riegle, Jr.
Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. is an American politician from Michigan, who served for five terms as a Representative and for three terms as a Senator.-Early life:...
(D-MI). In addition to being one of the few Sc.D.-level scientists in the history of the Congress, he also was one of the few to ever speak Russian fluently.
With respect to Ritter's 14-year voting record in the U.S. Congress, he enjoyed consistently high rankings from conservative interest groups and correspondingly low rankings from liberal ones. However, he represented a district that, while ancestrally Democratic, had a considerable tinge of social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
. Also, substantial numbers of Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian-Americans resided in his Lehigh Valley district and supported Ritter's strong anti-Communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
.
Congressional initiatives on Afghanistan
Ritter's experience with Afghanistan began with the Soviet Union's invasion of that countrySoviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
in 1979. He spent the next 10 years in Congress working with Afghans to evict the Soviet invaders. Ritter speaks fluent Russian and had studied Russian literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
, culture and history
History of Russia
The history of Russia begins with that of the Eastern Slavs and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The state of Garðaríki , which was centered in Novgorod and included the entire areas inhabited by Ilmen Slavs, Veps and Votes, was established by the Varangian chieftain Rurik in 862...
as a hobby while at M.I.T.
He authored the "Material Assistance" to Afghanistan legislation in the Congress (Ritter-Tsongas
Paul Tsongas
Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...
) in 1982, created the Congressional Task Force on Afghanistan (Ritter-Humphrey
Gordon J. Humphrey
Gordon John Humphrey is a New Hampshire politician who served two terms in the Senate as a Republican from 1979 to 1990, and twice ran for Governor of New Hampshire, though both bids were unsuccessful.-Early life:...
) to promote such "material assistance" of all kinds to the Afghan resistance, convened meetings on Afghanistan with representatives of the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
, Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
to enhance U.S. assistance to the Afghan resistance fighters, and used his ranking position on the Congressional Helsinki Commission, extending its purview away from its traditional focus on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, to call attention to the Soviets' illegal invasion, occupation and destruction of Afghanistan, which violated the Helsinki Accords
Helsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
.
National Environmental Policy Institute, NEPI, 1993-2002
For nearly ten years after leaving Congress, Ritter served as founder, chairman and president of the National Environmental Policy Institute (NEPI). NEPI was one of the leading groups seeking environmental policy changes in the 1990s that sought greater involvement of states and localities in national policy making. NEPI promoted the use of risk assessment and peer-reviewed science in the regulatory decision process. NEPI's aim was to replace some of the Washington-based politically-charged environmental decision making with what it believed was more fact and science-based, common sense decision making by engaging an expanded, less partisan contingent of citizens and decision-makers from the states, cities and localities.NEPI conducted two large "working groups" of some 40 to 50 individuals from different perspectives, Reinventing EPA and Environmental Policy, which at the time built on Vice President Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
's "Reinventing Government" "Democratizing Environmental Policy" initiatives. Both involved greater involvement of the scientific community and bipartisan representation from the states and localities, plus leadership in the Congress and the Administration. Numerous publications resulted from NEPI and collaborating institutions and individuals. NEPI's annual national "Reinventing EPA and Environmental Policy" Conferences in Washington drew participation of some 250-300 people and leadership from those same bodies, including Governors, Mayors, State Legislators, Chairmen of Congressional Committees, Cabinet members, Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
Administrators and White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
officials, environmental advocacy group, leaders, and leading legal and scientific figures. NEPI also conducted working groups on policy implication of highly technical but policy-significant issues of bioavailability
Bioavailability
In pharmacology, bioavailability is a subcategory of absorption and is used to describe the fraction of an administered dose of unchanged drug that reaches the systemic circulation, one of the principal pharmacokinetic properties of drugs. By definition, when a medication is administered...
and sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
s.
Afghanistan
Ritter founded and chaired the Afghanistan Foundation in 1996. Since 2002, he has been active in developing a market economy in Afghanistan: personally as a businessman and investor in Afghan companies and public policy wise in promoting free market policies of the Afghan government through the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) and the Afghan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC)Personal
Ritter was a resident of Coopersburg, PennsylvaniaCoopersburg, Pennsylvania
Coopersburg is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The population of Coopersburg was 2,386 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
, in the Lehigh Valley, for 25 years. He now resides in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, but has spent some one-third of his time in Afghanistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
.
He was formerly married to Edith Duerksen Ritter with whom he has two children, a son, Jason Alexei, and a daughter, Kristina Larissa.