Amy Ridenour facts for kids
Amy Moritz Ridenour (November 9, 1959 – March 31, 2017) was the president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. This organization is a Washington, DC-based group that shares conservative ideas and research. Amy Ridenour led the organization from when it started in 1982 until she passed away. She also wrote articles for newspapers starting in 1997 and often appeared on radio and TV shows.
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Early Life and Career
Amy Moritz was an active organizer for the College Republican National Committee. This group helps college students get involved in politics. In 1981, she planned to run for the national leader of the organization. Other well-known people like Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, and Grover Norquist were also involved.
They convinced Amy Moritz to not run for the top position. Instead, they offered her a role as an executive director. After this, Jack Abramoff easily won the election. Even though her role was later changed to "deputy director," she continued to work with the group. She also became good friends with Grover Norquist. Later, Jack Abramoff became a director at the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR).
Amy Moritz later married David A. Ridenour, who was also a College Republican.
National Center for Public Policy Research
Amy Ridenour was a main founder and leader of the NCPPR when it began in 1982. The NCPPR aims to share conservative and free-market ideas. These ideas cover topics like US domestic policy, foreign policy, and defense. Amy Ridenour's husband, David A. Ridenour, is also a leader at the organization.
The NCPPR's reports and ideas have been used by many conservative members of Congress. Sometimes, their information was used almost exactly as written.
Views on Policy Issues
Amy Ridenour wrote many articles about different policy topics.
She shared her views on tobacco policies. She believed that laws about tobacco should be made by elected lawmakers, not by courts. She wrote articles like "Ironies of the Tobacco Wars" and "Federal Tobacco Lawsuit Could Pave Way for Litigation Tax on Other Industries." She argued that private lawyers were using lawsuits to make a lot of money.
Amy Ridenour also wrote about environmental issues. She shared her thoughts on climate change. Some people thought her articles were influenced by funding from energy companies. However, Ridenour stated that she began writing about these issues in 1992. This was many years before her organization received any funding from fossil fuel industries. She also said that funding from fossil fuel companies in 2004 was a very small part of her organization's total funding.
Connections to Jack Abramoff
Amy Ridenour's work sometimes connected with the clients of Jack Abramoff.
Supporting Clients' Interests
Between 1999 and 2001, Amy Ridenour wrote articles about the Commonwealth of the Marianas Islands. She discussed efforts to change federal immigration laws there. She also wrote about the wages on the islands and criticized attempts to make labor laws stricter. Her group's name also appeared in a newspaper in Saipan, supporting a trade group for garment makers there.
Both the Marianas Islands and the trade group were clients of Jack Abramoff at that time. They paid his law firms for his services.
In 2001, Ridenour wrote an article about Malaysia. She warned about the possibility of Malaysia becoming a more extreme Islamic government. She also mentioned the political rival of Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamed, who was a client of Abramoff. Abramoff helped arrange a meeting between the Prime Minister and President Bush.
Funding for Trips
Amy Ridenour's organization, the NCPPR, was involved in funding some trips. One trip was a golf trip to St. Andrew's in Scotland. This trip was attended by Congressman Tom DeLay and others. Ridenour was asked to talk about this trip to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 2005.
Records showed that one of Abramoff's clients gave money to the NCPPR. The NCPPR then used a similar amount to help pay for the golf trip. This trip was described as being for "educational purposes." Two months after the trip, Congressman DeLay voted against a law that the client did not support. Both DeLay and Ridenour said that the donation and the trip were not connected to the vote.
House ethics rules have guidelines for lawmakers' activities and their interactions with lobbyists. These rules limit how much lobbyists can pay for lawmakers' travel and entertainment. They also require lawmakers to report who sponsored their trips and the full cost.
Amy Ridenour also attended a trip to Russia in 1997. This trip was funded through the NCPPR by a Russian energy company.
See Also
- Jack Abramoff
External linaks
- NCPPR staff bio
Images for kids
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Amy Ridenour speaking at a hearing in 2005.
