US House speaker vows to secure money needed by Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — House Speaker Paul Ryan vowed to help Puerto Rico secure the money it needs to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Maria after touring the disaster zone Friday and seeing what he called the "dire conditions" facing many across the island.Ryan toured the island in a helicopter at the head of a congressional delegation and met with local officials and representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the first time since Maria swept across the entire island as a fierce Category 4 hurricane."Our heart goes out to the people of Puerto Rico," he told reporters later in San Juan. "What we have seen here today confirms that this is first and foremost a humanitarian disaster."The speaker noted that the House this week passed a $36.5 billion emergency disaster-relief bill that includes money for Puerto Rico as well as Texas and Florida for the recent series of storms.

US House Speaker Ryan in Puerto Rico as 'Maria' costs mount

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — House Speaker Paul Ryan is getting a firsthand look at the devastation left by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as the U.S. island territory seeks billions in assistance to recover from the storm.Ryan and other members of a congressional delegation met at the airport briefly with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday.He and other members of the delegation then boarded helicopters with Puerto Rico Gov.

Paul Ryan has $10.4 million cash on hand in re-election effort

MADISON — House Speaker Paul Ryan has more than $10.4 million cash on hand for his re-election effort next year.Ryan's campaign reported Thursday that he raised $300,000 over the past three months and also transferred $2 million from his national political organization.Ryan's Democratic opponent Randy Bryce says he raised just over $1 million between July and September and had more than $1 million cash on hand.Bryce is a union iron worker and has been aggressively fundraising nationally in an attempt to take down Ryan who has represented southeast Wisconsin since 1999.

Speaker Ryan lamblasts high-tax states as he defends GOP tax proposal

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday, October 12th lambasted high-tax states like California, New York and New Jersey, arguing the rest of the country is "propping up profligate, big-government states" even as they pay billions more in taxes than they receive in return from the federal government.Ryan's attack came as he defended the Republican tax proposal that would repeal the federal deduction for state and local taxes, saying it has forced the rest of the country to support those states' high taxes and reckless spending.House Republicans from those states are bucking President Donald Trump's tax overhaul package and GOP leadership over the popular tax deduction.

Paul Ryan says bump stocks should be addressed by regulation

WASHINGTON — New federal rules would be the "the smartest, quickest" way to regulate the device the gunman in the Las Vegas massacre used to heighten his firepower, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday in remarks that suggested Congress was unlikely to act first.It remains unclear, however, what if any action the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will take on so-called bump stocks.

Speaker Ryan says NRA-backed gun bill shelved indefinitely

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders called for unity and prayer Tuesday after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, but offered no new legislation to tighten gun laws and said a bill to ease regulations on gun silencers would be shelved indefinitely."We are all reeling from this horror in Las Vegas," Speaker Paul Ryan said at a news conference. "This is just awful."Ryan said there's no plan for the House to act soon on a National Rifle Association-backed bill to ease regulations on gun silencers.

Paul Ryan challenger Randy Bryce raises $1 million over 3 months

MADISON — Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan's Democratic challenger Randy Bryce says he raised more than $1 million over the past three months.Bryce reported the totals Monday, just days after the close of the third quarter fundraising period.

House Speaker Paul Ryan touts tax reform at Harley-Davidson factory

MENOMONEE FALLS — House Speaker Paul Ryan plans talked tax reform and Foxconn at a Harley-Davidson factory outside of Milwaukee.Ryan toured the factory in Menomonee Falls on Monday, held a round table discussion with company leaders and then took questions from reporters.

Speaker Ryan won't say tax plan won't raise deficit: "We want pro-growth tax reform that will get the economy going"

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan backed off months of promises that the Republicans' tax plan won't add to the nation's ballooning deficit, declaring Wednesday in an AP Newsmaker interview that the most important goal of an overhaul is economic growth.Asked twice whether he would insist the emerging tax plan won't pile more billions onto the $20 trillion national debt, Ryan passed up the chance to affirm that commitment.

Ryan says President Trump "messed up" but opposes censure

MADISON — U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday he will not support a resolution to censure President Donald Trump over his comments following the white supremacist march in Virginia, even though he believes President Trump "messed up" by saying "both sides" were to blame for violence and that there were "very fine people" among those marching to protect Confederate statues.Ryan was asked at a town hall organized by CNN in his Wisconsin congressional district whether he would back the resolution that comes following President Trump's comments about the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally.

Ryan to face voters following Trump nationwide address

MADISON — House Speaker Paul Ryan will be taking questions from Wisconsin voters during a nationally televised town hall meeting Monday night immediately following President Donald Trump's address on Afghanistan.Ryan had scheduled the event from his congressional district to be broadcast on CNN before Trump announced his speech to start at the same time.

Speaker Paul Ryan: Leaders must push beyond 'passions of moment'

WASHINGTON — The nation's leaders "have an obligation" to steer the country past "the passions of the moment," House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday in remarks that didn't explicitly criticize President Donald Trump's handling of this month's deadly clash in Charlottesville, Virginia.The written statement by Ryan, R-Wis., came six days after Pres.