Executive editor
STEUBENVILLE — The way U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan sees it, the United States finds itself at a dramatic turning point.
“We are at a crossroads,” Ryan said Friday. “We’re either going to double down on the future economy and make sure everyone can come along for the ride, or we’re going to double down on the past, on the old economy where there was a lot of income inequality and there were a lot of forgotten communities, and that will make the gap even further because things are moving so fast.”
Ryan, the Howland Democrat who represents the Youngstown and Mahoning Valley areas in the House of Representatives, was speaking during a virtual roundtable on expanding economic opportunity in Appalachia. It marked one of his first appearances since April 26, when he became the first Democrat to say he would seek the party’s nomination for the Senate in 2022.