Jim Welker (born 1947) is an American politician. He is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

who was, until January 2007, a

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

state representative of District 51. He is a

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

s businessman. Welker was first appointed into public office in 2003 and served on two committees, Business Affairs and Labor, and Transportation and Energy. He completed

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degrees in math and science from Montana State University in 1969. He is married to Claudia and has two children: Claudette, 31, and Craig, 29.

Controversies and criticism

Welker has come under fire from various groups in the course of his three-year political caree

Selling of confidential data concerning US Citizens

Universal Communications Co. in Loveland, Colorado, is one of 15 companies under federal investigation for illegal selling of private information such as driver license numbers, personal cell phone records, and social security numbers

On June 21, 2006, he was

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

ed to testify at a congressional hearing. He invoked his fifth amendment right

Welker acknowledged his Universal Communications Co. "sold cell-phone records but has denied the firm did anything illegal and has maintained the records weren't sold to the general public.

The FBI said databrokers "probably act illegally.

Controversial remarks

Homosexuals

Welker forwarded anti-gay emails in 2003. He was warned by the Republican Party to not forward "offensive material.

The material forwarded "claimed that gay men regularly ingest the urine and feces of their partners, leading to massive outbreaks of various diseases," this report was written by Lynn Bartels for the Rocky Mountain News of Denver Colorado.

External links

Colorado a hub for data brokersRefusal to reply to citizen and newspaper concernsOfficial campaigning/bio info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, Jim 1950 births Living people Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives