Tim Ryan
Timothy J. Ryan is an
American member of the
Democratic Party, who is a
U.S. representative for the
17th district of
Ohio, serving since 2003.
Ryan was born in
Niles and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in
Warren. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Bowling Green State University in 1995. In 2000, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from
Franklin Pierce Law Center in
Concord, New Hampshire.
Encyclopedia
Timothy J. Ryan is an
American member of the
Democratic Party, who is a
U.S. representative for the
17th district of
Ohio, serving since 2003.
Ryan was born in
Niles and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in
Warren. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Bowling Green State University in 1995. In 2000, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from
Franklin Pierce Law Center in
Concord, New Hampshire.
Ryan served on the staff of controversial congressman
Jim Traficant in the mid-1990s. From 2000 to 2002 he served a term in the Ohio State Senate. After Traficant was convicted on criminal charges in 2002, Ryan declared his candidacy for the Congressional seat of his home district. As the result of redistricting following the 2000
census, the 17th, which had long been based in Youngstown, now included portions of Akron and
Portage County. Before the redistricting, all of Akron had been part of the 14th District, represented by eight-term Democrat Tom Sawyer. The 14th had been eliminated in the year 2000 redistricting, and Sawyer's district was incorporated into the 17th. In the 2002 Democratic primary, Ryan defeated Sawyer, who was seen as insufficiently labor-friendly in the newly drawn district. Traficant ran as an independent in the race from his prison cell.
Ryan easily won the election in November. When he took office in January 2003, he was the youngest Democrat in the House. He was reelected in 2004.
Recently, before the
2004 presidential election, Ryan spoke on the House floor in a charismatic speech denouncing the Bush administration's denial of a draft reinstatement, comparing this to the administration's previous claims that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, the Bush tax cuts would create jobs, and other such claims. A video clip of this impassioned speech began to circulate throughout the Internet, particularly through left-wing media sites, and can be found here . He repeated in September 2006 with an equally-impassioned speech criticizing what he felt to be the Bush administration's tendency to distract the public from key issues like the war in Iraq and the economy.
Ryan is a member of the Thirty Something Working Group , which is a Congressional caucus composed of all of the members of the US House of Representatives who are in their 30s or younger. It is organized by the House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi in order to energize and engage younger people in politics by focusing on issues that are important to them.
Early in the race, Ryan was strongly courted by national Democrats to run against
Mike DeWine for Senate in 2006 but declined. He endorsed
Paul Hackett for the seat, who later withdrew from the race in favor of fellow Ohio Rep
Sherrod Brown's candidacy.
Popular culture
- Ryan was the inspiration of the 2005 movie "Steel Valley" , and is an avid fan of the Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band is an American [i] rock [i] band, originally formed in Charlottesville [i] ...
.
See also
External links
