2012 Presidential Election:
The Candidates - Vice President

Congressman Paul Ryan

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Paul Ryan was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, a fifth-generation Roman Catholic Wisconsinite and the youngest of four siblings.  He served as class president of his junior high class at Joseph A. Craig High School and went on to study economics and political science at Miami University in Ohio. During college, Ryan interned at the office of Senator Bob Kasten (R-WI) and later also volunteered for John Boehner's (R-OH) congressional campaign.

After graduating in 1992, Ryan joined Senator Kasten as a staff economist, and when Kasten was defeated in the following election Ryan became a speech writer for the conservative advocacy group, Empower America. When Jack Kemp was nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1996, Ryan served as his speechwriter and says that Kemp had a "huge influence" on his own political career. Ryan  later worked for Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS).

In 1999, Ryan won his first election to represent Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, a post he has held through today. Ryan is chair of the House Budget Committee and has focused the majority his congressional career on America's fiscal policy. He has proposed privatizing Social Security, replacing Medicare with a voucher program for those now under 55 years-old, and turning Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program into block grants to the states. Ryan first introduced his budget plan, called The Path to Prosperity, in April 2011 and reintroduced a similar plan in March 2012.

On August 11, 2012, Governor Mitt Romney chose Ryan as his running mate, effectively naming him the presumptive Republican nominee for Vice President.

Learn more about Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney - CLICK HERE.

US-Israel Relationship  -  Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process  -  Palestinain Terrorism  -  Threat from Iran

US-Israel Relationship

"First of all, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Mitt Romney and I are very clear on this ... [the Democrats] should not have driven a wedge into what has been our bipartisan support for Israel."
- Interview on Fox News (September 5, 2012)

"There will be no daylight between America and our friends around the world. Strong national defense, peace through strength, strong relationship with our allies."
- Remarks in Springfield, VA (August 17, 2012)

"America has no better friend in the Middle East than the nation of Israel ... the region’s only fully functioning democracy, with a government based on popular consent and the rule of law ... Our shared democratic values and national interests are supported by maintaining a close friendship with Israel."
- Paul Ryan Congressional Website

"[Israel] is also a valuable ally against Islamic extremism and terrorism ... "
- Paul Ryan Congressional Website

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

"While I do not have a role in the diplomatic discussions over the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, America should not pressure Israel to agree to a peace deal that is unlikely to result in peace and security."
- Paul Ryan Congressional Website

"Real peace will require Palestinians to recognize that Israel has a right to exist, even as it will require two states for the two peoples."
- Paul Ryan Congressional Website

"I believe at least one thing is clear: we cannot advocate for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that jeopardizes Israel’s safety or legitimizes terrorism."
- Paul Ryan Congressional Website

Palestinian Terrorism

"Hamas, which is one of the two major Palestinian political factions, is an Islamist terrorist group whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction, refuses to recognize Israel’s existence, and calls Osama Bin Laden a 'martyr.'"
- Paul Ryan Congressional Website

Iranian Threat

"We cannot allow Iran to gain a nuclear weapons capability."
- Vice Presidential Debate (October 11, 2012)

"A nuclear-armed Iran which triggers a nuclear arms race in the Middle East [is worse than another war in the Middle East]. This [Iran] is the world's largest sponsor of terrorism. They've dedicated themselves to wiping an entire country off the map. They call us the Great Satan. And if they get nuclear weapons, other people in the neighborhood will pursue their nuclear weapons, as well."
- Vice Presidential Debate (October 11, 2012)

"Mitt Romney proposed these sanctions in 2007. In Congress, I've been fighting for these sanctions since 2009. The administration was blocking us every step of the way. Only because we had strong bipartisan support for these tough sanctions were we able to overrule their objections and put them in spite of the [Obama] administration. "
- Vice Presidential Debate (October 11, 2012)

"Imagine what would have happened if we had these sanctions in place earlier. You think Iran's not brazen? Look at what they're doing. They're stepping up their terrorist attacks. They tried a terrorist attack in the United States last year when they tried to blow up the Saudi ambassador at a restaurant in Washington, D.C."
- Vice Presidential Debate (October 11, 2012)

"They [in the Obama Administration] say the military option's on the table, but it's not being viewed as credible. And the key is to do this peacefully, is to make sure that we have credibility. Under a Romney administration, we will have credibility on this issue."
- Vice Presidential Debate (October 11, 2012)

"In the past day, Iran’s President called our ally Israel ‘a cancerous tumor that must be excised.' Let me be really clear. Under President Romney our adversaries will think twice about challenging America and our allies because we believe in peace through strength."
- Remarks in Springfield, VA (August 17, 2012)

United States House of Representatives (2000 - 2012):

- Co-sponsored HR-282 (Iran Freedom Support Act) in April 2006.

This bill enacts measures to hold the regime in Iran accountable for its threatening behavior and to support a transition to democracy in Iran. HR-282: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-1400 (Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007) in March 2007.

Bill urges the U.S. to use diplomatic and economic means to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem, continue supporting the International Atomic Energy Association and the UN Security Council to end Iran's uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons program, take additional bilateral sanctions against Iran; all of these measures should be taken unless the President assures Congress that Iran has ended efforts to develop or acquire nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons or ballistic missiles or no longer poses a significant threat to U.S. national security, interests, or allies. HR-1400: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HCR-362 (Iran and Nuclear Weapons Act) in May 2008.

This bill conveys the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and for other purposes. HCR-362: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-1208 (Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2009) in February 2009.

This bill amends the Iran Freedom Support Act to maintain specific sanctions against Iran until the President certified to the appropriate congressional committees that Iran has verifiably dismantled its weapons of mass destruction programs and ceased its support for international terrorism. This amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 in various ways. HR-1208: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-2194 (Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009) in April 2009.

This bill amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 by expanding economic sanctions against Iran.
A version of this bill passed the U.S. Senate as S-908 in April 2009.

- Co-sponsored HR-1553 in July 2010.

This bill condemns Iran for its threats to annihilate the U.S. and Israel, supports using "all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the use of military force if no other peaceful solution can be found within reasonable time." HR-1553: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-268 in May 2011.

Reaffirmed US Committment Negotiations. This bill solidifies the American committment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct negotiations. HR-268: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-1905 (Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Human Rights Act of 2012) in May 2011.

This bill aims to strengthen Iran sanctions laws in order to compel Iran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and other threatening activities. HR-1905: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-2829 (United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2011) in August 2011.

This ten-part bill addresses, among other things, the Status of Palestinian Entities at the United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Goldstone Report, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Neat East (UNWRA), and the annual U.N. Durban Conference process. HR-2829: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-568 in March 2012.

This bill calls on the US to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. It recognizes that since at least the late 1980s, Iran has engaged in illicit activity aimed at obtaining nuclear capability and that the United Nations Security Council has adopted many resolutions since 2006 demanding that Iran completely suspend all of its uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency. HR-568: CLICK HERE

- Co-sponsored HR-4133 (U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act) in March 2012.

This bill reaffirms United States policy commitments to Israel and calls for enhanced security cooperation between the two allies. The U.S. House of Representatives passed this bill overwhelmingly, by vote of 411-2. HR-4133: CLICK HERE