Full Biography

Tim Ryan is a relentless advocate for working families in Ohio's 17th District. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002 and was sworn in on January 7, 2003. Successfully reelected four times, he is currently serving in his fifth term.

Ryan currently serves as a member of the House Armed Services Committee with jurisdiction over national defense policy, ongoing military operations, the organization and reform of the Department of Defense, counter-drug programs, acquisition and industrial base policy, and technology transfer and export controls. He serves on the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and the Subcommittee on Readiness. In addition to the numerous manufacturers in Ohio that supply products and equipment for national defense, the Committee oversees the operations of the Youngstown Warren Air Reserve Station, the 910th Airlift Wing, the former Ravenna Arsenal, and the Ohio National Guard's Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center.

Congressman Ryan also serves as a member House Budget Committee which through its annual budget resolution sets the aggregate levels of spending and revenue expected to occur in a given fiscal year. This Committee is in the center of the debate on reducing the national deficit and debt. Congressman Ryan maintains that reductions and sacrifices must be shared and the burden of debt reduction must not be directed to those least able to afford them. Furthermore, Ryan believes that Medicare must be protected to ensure adequate health care coverage for our senior citizens.

Ryan serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus and remains a leader in the fight to strengthen America's manufacturing base and reform U.S. trade policies. The House Manufacturing Caucus examines and promotes policies to help American manufacturers find trained, educated workers, continue to lead the world in developing new industrial technologies, operate on a level playing field with their foreign competitors, and obtain the capital they need to thrive. Ryan is the leading advocate in the House to impose sanctions on unfair Chinese currency manipulation.

Ryan's primary focus remains on the economy and quality-of-life in Northeast Ohio. He works closely with local officials and community leaders to advance local projects that enhance the economic competitiveness and help attract high-quality, high-paying jobs.

Ryan is a dynamic leader in the House where he often speaks out on issues of particular concern in Northeast Ohio. He a champion of efforts to make college more affordable, revitalize America's cities and improve the health and well-being of American families and children. His work on these and other issues has garnered the attention of the national media.

Prior to being elected to Congress, Ryan served in the Ohio State Senate where he spearheaded efforts to establish a state-based earned income tax credit, to standardize community school data reporting, and bring college students into the debate over higher education funding.

Before his election to public office, Ryan served as President of the Trumbull County Young Democrats and as Chairman of the Earning by Learning program in Warren, Ohio. He began his career in politics as a congressional aide with the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995 and later served as an intern for the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office. Ryan holds a law degree from the University Of New Hampshire School Of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center), studied abroad as part of the Dickinson School of Law's International Law Program in Florence, Italy, and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Born July 16, 1973 in Niles, Ohio, Tim Ryan is the younger of two sons, both raised by their mother, Rochelle Ryan with the help of grandparents, Anna and John Rizzi. He resides in Niles, Ohio.