 |
 |
|
.jpg) |
Robert L. "Bob" Beauprez (born September 22, 1948) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 7th Congressional District of Colorado.
Beauprez is married with four children. Early life Beauprez grew up Catholic on his family's dairy farm outside of Boulder, Colorado, which had been purchased by his grandparents. His grandparents had emigrated from Belgium to Colorado and raised draft horses on the family's land. Joseph C. Beauprez and Marie Stengel,[1] his parents, raised both Hereford and dairy cattle on the farm. Beauprez often cites his father's example as a major influence on his life Beauprez attended Fairview High School where he played football and was named all-conference offensive tackle. He went on to study physical education at the University of Colorado, and received his B.S. in 1970. Career before entering politics Farmer Following graduation he married his wife, Claudia Paul, and together they returned to his family's farm to continue in the dairy business with his brother Mike Beauprez. During his time on the farm Beauprez was involved in breeding Holstein cattle and served on the board of directors of the Holstein Association of America. Beauprez later sold the family farm to build Indian Peaks golf course. Banker Following those years as a land developer Beauprez and his wife bought into a small local bank known as Bank VII. It was renamed Heritage and its assets went from just $4 million in 1990 to around $450 million by 2006. In addition the bank grew from 1 location to over a dozen. Beauprez has indicated that his decision to go into banking was partially influenced by the hope that he could help small businesses, as it was a bank loan in a drought during the 1950's that saved his family's farm. Due to the money from both land development and a controlling stake in Heritage bank it is estimated that Beauprez is worth over $6 million. Heritage Bank was found to be accepting matricula consular cards from illegal immigrants. While Beauprez claimed to have no influence over their activities since he was elected to Congress, his wife Claudia still maintains an important position in the bank. Political career Republican Party Chairmanship While Beauprez had been involved in the Republican Party for some time, his first leadership role came in 1997 as the chairman of the Boulder County Republican Party. In 1999, with the backing of Senator Wayne Allard, Beauprez became chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. His tenure as state party chairman was marked by an aggressive attempts to use redistricting to get more Republican candidates elected in Colorado. The Republican Party lost control of the Colorado State Senate for the first time in four decades while Beauprez was chairman. Congress In 2002 Beauprez ran to represent Colorado's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In beating Democrat Mike Feely by only 121 votes he managed to win the closest race in the nation even though President Bush's approval ratings were at their highest. As a freshman Beauprez served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee, and the Small Business Committee. He was re-elected in 2004 and subsequently obtained a position on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. ARMPAC contributions Beauprez was a recipient of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ARMPAC campaign contributions. In 2005, DeLay was indicted on felony money laundering charges. While DeLay has not been convicted of any crime, and no one has accused Beauprez of misconduct, the charges against DeLay have led Democrats to call on Beauprez to return the money or to donate it to charity. [1] Republicans say that the charges against DeLay are politically motivated. Michael Cherney In 2004, Beauprez accepted $21,226 from Michael Cherney (also known as Mikhail Chernoy) to travel to Israel for two days and deliever a speech at The Jerusalem Summit, an event sponsored by Cherney. Cherney is a suspected member of the Russian Mafia and is believed to have cornered the Russian aluminum industry through bribery and murder. Beauprez initially failed to disclose his trip and acceptance of Cherney's money to the House Ethics Committee, though he eventually did so after DeLay received bad press over his failure to disclose travel expenses. Beauprez was the only U.S. congressman to attend The Jerusalem Summit. Other guests and panelists included the former heads of Israeli, Turkish, and Jordanian intelligence agencies. Beauprez counters that The Jerusalem Summit "is a highly respected organization that attracts distinguished scholars and diplomats from around the world" and that "was an honor for me to have been invited to address the organization 2006 Colorado gubernatorial race Beauprez won the Republican Party nomination for governor in August 2006, running to succeed two-term governor Bill Owens, who was ineligible for a third consecutive term. Beauprez ended up winning the nomination uncontested; he was briefly opposed by Marc Holtzman, who dropped out of the race and endorsed Beauprez several months before the primary. After Beauprez was defeated by Ritter, there was speculation that he might consider running for the retiring Wayne Allard's Senate seat in 2008 |
|
www.beauprezforcongress.com, 2003 - 2007 |
||
