During the vice presidential debate on Thursday night, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the running mate of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said he met a soldier from the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin.

Ryan met the man on a trip to Afghanistan. " I sat down with a young private in the 82nd from the Menominee Indian Reservation who would tell me what he did every day, and I was in awe," he said, according to the debate transcript.

Other than the brief mention, neither Ryan nor Vice President Joe Biden discussed anything Indian related during their one and only debate.

Ryan's district in Wisconsin does not include any tribes, however, it's home to a racetrack that the Menominee Nation wants to convert into an off-reservation casino. The project was rejected by the Bush administration but the Obama administration agreed to take a second look and the environmental impact statement was published in June.

Ryan previously said he was neutral on the casino, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

During the 111th and 112th Congress, Ryan voted against every major Indian bill but otherwise has not been a major player on Indian issues.

Ryan's wife, Janna, has Chickasaw ancestry, a family member told Indianz.Com.

Get the Story:
Biden, Ryan trade sharp words on foreign policy, economy during vice-presidential debate (The Washington Post 10/12)
Biden and Ryan Quarrel Aggressively in Debate, Offering Contrasts (The New York Times 10/12)

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