Jim Welker
Jim Welker (born 1947) is an American politician. He is a Republican who was, until January 2007, a Colorado state representative of District 51. He is a communications 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 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 career.
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 subpoenaed to testify at a congressional hearing. He invoked his fifth amendment rights. 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
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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.
Racist email
In March 2006 Republican Colorado State Representative Jim Welker was criticized for forwarding a WorldNetDaily article by Jesse Lee Peterson. Congressmen criticized Welker for uncritically sending a copy of the article by email, which included the statements "President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks" and accused "welfare-pampered blacks" of waiting for the federal government to save them from Hurricane Katrina. Welker stated that he did not agree with everything in the article. He said that the reason he sent it was because of its message "about society victimizing people by making them dependent on government programs."
On July 20, 2006, Welker once again came under fire for his racial comments. Raw story reported that he forwarded an article titled "Black Culture' Blamed for Hurricane Katrina Woes."