Tim Ryan

Timothy J. Ryan (born July 16, 1973) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, who is a U.S. representative for the 17th congressional district of Ohio (map).

Ryan was born in Niles, Ohio and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, Ohio) in 1995. In 2000, he earned a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center (Ridge, N.H.).

Ryan served on the staff of controversial U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-Ohio). From 2002 to 2002 Ryan served as an Ohio state senator.

After Traficant was convicted on criminal charges in 2002, Ryan declared his candidacy for his mentor's seat. As the result of redistricting following the 2000 census, Traficant's district now included incumbent U.S. Rep. Thomas C. Sawyer (D-Ohio). In the 2002 Democratic primary election, Ryan pulled off a surprise defeat of Sawyer, who was seen as insufficiently labor-friendly in the redrawn district. Traficant ran as an independent in the race, but Ryan prevailed, having defeated two incumbents in order to gain his seat.

Ryan began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2003 (108th Congress). At the time, he was the youngest Democratic member of the 108th Congress.

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 [1].

See also:

• Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 17th District
• List of United States Representatives from Ohio

External link

• Official site