Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., said Tuesday the Congressional Black Caucus is open to working with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., on bipartisan legislative action on reducing poverty.  

Ryan, who came under fire from black leaders after recent comments about inner-city unemployment , will hold a hearing next week examining the results of the War on Poverty , and has also accepted an invitation to meet with the CBC.  

Moore said the caucus sees the Ryan meeting as an opportunity. “Congressman Ryan is a nice guy,” she told a group of reporters in a press conference call Tuesday. “And — and, as such, you know, he has tried to frame the comments that he made about inner-city folks as just sort of inarticulate ways of — of communicating.  

“We’re gonna challenge his assumptions about that, and really raise with him a couple of very specific proposals,” she said.  

“Paul Ryan wants to talk about poverty, but he is … hamstrung by a caucus that is not willing to have these conversations. And so he’s sort of walking a tightrope,” she said.  

Correction 3:03 p.m. An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported that Rep. Ryan asked to meet with the CBC. He was invited to meet with the group.  

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