U.S. House of Representatives
Elections After
Jim Traficant was convicted on criminal charges in 2002, Ryan declared his candidacy for the 17th district. As the result of
redistricting following the 2000
census, the 17th, which had long been based in Youngstown, had been pushed west and included much of
Portage County and part of Akron. 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 2000; most of it was drawn into the 13th district of fellow Democrat
Sherrod Brown, but Sawyer's home was drawn into the 17th. Ryan was initially seen as an underdog in a six-way Democratic primary that included Sawyer. only once facing a contest nearly as close as his first. In 2010, he was held to 53% of the vote; Traficant, running as an independent, took 16%. From
redistricting in 2012, until giving up to seat to run for the
United States Senate he served five terms as the U.S. representative for the 13th district.
Tenure In his first year in office in 2003, Ryan was one of seven members of Congress to vote against the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, and one of eight to oppose ratification of the
Federal Trade Commission's establishment of a
National Do Not Call Registry. In 2010, Ryan voted for the
Stupak Amendment restricting federal funding for abortions, but in January 2015, he announced that having "gained a deeper understanding of the complexities and emotions that accompany the difficult decisions [about whether to end a pregnancy]" over his time in public office, he had reversed his position on abortion and now identified as
pro-choice. In 2010, Ryan introduced the
Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which sought punitive trade
tariffs on countries, notably
China, that were engaging in
currency manipulation. It passed the
House overwhelmingly but never made it to the floor in the Senate. In an October 2010 interview with conservative magazine
Human Events, Ryan said tax increases on small businesses were necessary "because we have huge deficits. We gotta shore up
Social Security. We gotta shrink our deficits." Ryan initiated a bid to replace Pelosi as
House minority leader on November 17, 2016, prompted by colleagues after the
2016 presidential election. After Pelosi agreed to give more leadership opportunities to junior members, she defeated Ryan by a vote of 134–63 on November 30. Ryan supported the
Iran nuclear deal to prevent
Iran from acquiring
weapons of mass destruction. In April 2016, he tweeted, "I was in Jerusalem a few weeks ago & saw firsthand the dangerous threat Israelis face. Israel has the right to defend itself from terror." Around 2018, Ryan helped Adi Othman, an undocumented immigrant in
Youngstown, Ohio, remain in the United States. Othman had lived in the United States for nearly 40 years, ran several businesses in Youngstown, was married to a US citizen and had four US-born children. In May 2021, Ryan angrily chastised Senate Republicans for blocking a
January 6 commission to investigate the
January 6 United States Capitol attack.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Appropriations •
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch (chair) •
Subcommittee on Defense •
Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Caucus memberships • Co-chair of the
Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus • Co-chair of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus •
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus • Sportsmen's Caucus •
Congressional Arts Caucus •
Ohio River Basin Congressional Caucus •
Afterschool Caucuses •
Medicare for All Caucus •
Blue Collar Caucus • House Pro-Choice Caucus •
Congressional Taiwan Caucus ==2020 presidential campaign==