View Paul Ryan on OpenCongress.org

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Paul D. Ryan, Jr. has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the First Congressional District of Wisconsin, since 1999.

Contents 1 Record and controversies 1.1 Iraq War 1.2 Environmental record 1.3 Issues 1.3.1 Abortion 1.3.2 Education 1.3.3 Gun Control 1.3.4 Immigration 1.3.5 Social Security 2 Bio 2.1 Background 2.2 Congressional Career 2.2.1 2006 congressional elections 3 Money in politics 4 Committees and Affiliations 4.1 Committees 4.1.1 Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008) 4.1.2 Committee assignments in the 110th Congress (2005-2006) 4.2 Coalitions and Caucuses 4.3 Boards and other Affiliations 5 More Background Data 6 Contact 6.1 2008 Campaign Contact Information 7 Articles and resources 7.1 References 7.2 External resources 7.3 Local blogs and discussion sites

Record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

Click through the score to see the records of other members of Congress and full descriptions of the individual votes. Want to see someone else's scorecard added to the list? You can do it! Organization 2007 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio 2008 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail. American Conservative Union 96 - 24/25 not avail. AFSCME not avail. not avail. Americans for Democratic Action 15 - 3/20 15 - 3/20 Club for Growth not avail. not avail. Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail. Family Research Council not avail. not avail. Information Technology Industry Council not avail. not avail. League of Conservation Voters not avail. not avail. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail. U.S. Chamber of Commerce 75 - 15/20 not avail.

Iraq War

Ryan voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that provided Congressional authorization for the Iraq War.^[1]

Environmental record

For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Issues

Ryan refused to respond to citizens on issues through the National Political Awareness Test (NPAT).^[2]

Abortion

Ryan has consistently supported the National Right to Life Committee ^[3], while not supporting Planned Parenthood ^[4] or NARAL Pro-Choice America ^[5], displaying a strong stance against abortion. He voted for a bill that would require women seeking abortions after 20 weeks to be informed of the possible pain their fetus would undergo in the case of an abortion (12/06/2006).

Education

Ryan voted twice in support of the No Child Left Behind Act.^[6] He believes that "we must continue to make fiscally responsible reforms while improving student achievement"^[7] He voted against a bill which proposed to lower interest rates on student loans for college students ^[8], but for a bill that proposed fuller disclosure of the costs of college.

Gun Control

Ryan has no official statement on his website about gun issues [1]. He voted against a bill that proposed to extend the time for background checks for those attempting to purchase guns. [2] He voted for an amendment that prohibited funds in the bill from being used to enforce a law requiring guns to be sold with trigger locks. [3] He voted yes to a bill that prohibited lawsuits against gun manufacturers for for harm caused by criminal or unlawful misuse [4].

Immigration

Ryan supports tighter border security, and voted for the Secure Fence Act [5]. He wants to document the illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., and "find a way to bring these immigrants out from the underground while maintaining the rule of law." [6]. However, he also supports increased numbers of seasonal labor visas for workers. [7]

Social Security

Ryan voted for the Social Security Protection Act of 2003 [8], designed to help the Social Security Administration's ability to protect it's program. He is working for reform, in particular limiting the ability of other branches of government to appropriate Social Security surplus funds, because the surplus will disappear as the Baby Boomers age. [9]

In 2004, he introduced a reform bill [10] that would allow workers to shift a large portion of their Social Security payroll tax to financial index funds managed by private investment firms. Individuals exercising the private investment option would still receive SS benefits based only on the past amount they already paid into the traditional system. Critics argue that Ryan's plan would eventually defund traditional SS by discouraging participation at the expense of added risk for the promise of greater returns. Thereby circumventing the primary purpose and original intent of Social Security.

Bio

Background

Ryan was born January 29, 1970 in Janesville, Wisconsin. He graduated from Joseph A. Craig High School and later he attended Miami University in Ohio before entering the family business in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Ryan worked as an aide to U.S. Senator Bob Kasten in 1992 and as legislative director for Sam Brownback of Kansas from 1995 to 1997. He served as a speech writer at Empower America to Jack Kemp and William Bennett.

Congressional Career

He was first elected to the House in 1998 at the age of 28 running as a conservative in a heavily Democratic congressional district, when he defeated highly-profiled Lydia Spottswood 57%–42% to inherit the seat left by Mark Neumann.

He defeated perennial candidate Jeff Thomas in 2000, 2002 and 2004 by margins of 65%–34%, 67%–31% and 60%–38%. He was re-elected in 2008 by defeating Marge Krupp 64% to 36% of the vote.

2006 congressional elections

Ryan defeated Democrat Jeffrey Thomas to retain his seat.

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
Donor	Amount (US Dollars)
Northwestern Mutual	$ 21,750
Baker Tilly	$ 19,250
Unitedhealth Group	$ 16,000
Abbott Laboratories	$ 15,250
Wells Fargo	$ 14,150
Goldman Sachs	$ 13,650
Madison Dearborn Partners	$ 12,500
PricewaterhouseCoopers	$ 12,250
Abc Supply	$ 12,000
AT&T Inc	$ 12,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site. Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Paul Ryan from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by industry:	2008 election cycle	Career totals

• Revolving door profile for Paul Ryan from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• 2006 privately funded travel profile for Paul Ryan from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• Personal finance profile for Paul Ryan from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

Committees and Affiliations

Committees

• House Committee on Budget
• House Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Oversight

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

• House Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Social Security
  • Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
• House Committee on Budget - Ranking Member

Committee assignments in the 110th Congress (2005-2006)

• [[House Committee on Budget]-- Ranking Member
• House Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Social Security
• Joint Economic Committee

Coalitions and Caucuses

Boards and other Affiliations

• Member, Ducks Unlimited
• Member, Janesville Bowmen, Incorporated
• Board of Directors, Rock County Junior Achievement
• Member, Saint Mary's Parish

More Background Data

• Background information on Paul Ryan from Project Vote Smart

• Interest group scorecard ratings for Paul Ryan from Project Vote Smart

• Voting record for Paul Ryan from the Washington Post database

• Information on Paul Ryan from Congress Merge

Wikipedia also has an article on Paul Ryan. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

• Critique of Ryan at ThrowTheRascalsOut.org

Contact

DC office
1233 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Ph: 202-225-3031 Fax: 202-225-3393 Webform email
District offices
20 South Main Street, Suite 10, Janesville, WI 53545 Ph: 608-752-4050 Fax: (none entered) 5712 7th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53140 Ph: 262-654-1901 Fax: (none entered) 304 6th Street, Racine, WI 53403 Ph: 262-637-0510 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Official website YouTube channel
Campaign office
No campaign website entered. No campaign webform email entered. Ryan for Congress, P.O. Box 1919, Janesville, WI 53547 Ph: (none entered) Fax: (none entered)

2008 Campaign Contact Information

Official Ryan for Congress website

Ryan for Congress
P.O. Box 1919
Janesville, WI 53547

paul@ryanforcongress.com

Articles and resources

References

1. ↑ Roll call vote, Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
2. ↑ "Project Vote Smart page on Paul Ryan," Project Vote Smart.
3. ↑ "Project Vote Smart National Right to Life Committee," Project Vote Smart
4. ↑ "Project Vote Smart Planned Parenthood," Project Vote Smart
5. ↑ "Project Vote Smart NARAL Pro-Choice," Project Vote Smart
6. ↑ "Project Vote Smart Page on No Child Left Behind Act," Project Vote Smart
7. ↑ Paul Ryan, "Representative Ryan Education Issue Paper," Office of U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan
8. ↑ "Project Vote Smart Page on Student Loan Vote," Project Vote Smart

External resources

• Official website
• Campaign website

Local blogs and discussion sites

• The Xoff Files

Semantic data (Edit data)

From the Sunlight Foundation API
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
Title: Rep	First name: Paul	Middle name: D.	Last name: Ryan
Suffix:		Nickname:
Party: R	State: WI	District: 01 District short: 1	Currently in office? True
Gender: M
Phone: 202-225-3031	Fax: 202-225-3393	Website: http://paulryan.house.gov	Webform email: http://www.house.gov/ryan/email.htm Email address:
DC office: 1233 Longworth House Office Building
Bioguide ID: R000570	Votesmart ID: 26344	FEC ID: H8WI01024	Govtrack ID: 400351
CRP ID: N00004357	Eventful ID:	Old Sunlight ID:	Twitter ID: reppaulryan
OpenCongress Wiki URL: http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan		YouTubeID: http://youtube.com/reppaulryan	Senate class:

Entered manually within the Template:Politician
U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
110th Congress
Leadership Position: None	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees:
Congressional Career
First Elected to Current Office: November 3, 1998	First Took Current Office: January 3, 1999	Next Election: November 2, 2010	Term Ends:
Freshman Member? False	Previous Political Work? None or not available	Other Party Membership:
District Offices:
20 South Main Street, Suite 10, Janesville, WI 53545 Phone: 608-752-4050 / Fax: 608-752-4711 5712 7th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53140 Phone: 262-654-1901 / Fax: 262-654-2156 304 6th Street, Racine, WI 53403 Phone: 262-637-0510 / Fax: 262-637-5689
Campaign Contact:
Website: [[Campaign website::Official Ryan for Congress website]] Webform Email: [[Campaign webform email::paul@ryanforcongress.com]] / Email: paul@ryanforcongress.com Campaign Offices: Ryan for Congress, P.O. Box 1919, Janesville, WI 53547 Phone: / Fax:
Misc:
Date of Birth: January 29, 1970 November 3, 1998