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Bob Beauprez
United States Representative from Colorado's 7th district
In office 2003 - (term ends 2007)
Preceded by	None (new district created after 2000 Census)
Succeeded by	Incumbent1
Born	September 22, 1948 Lafayette, Colorado
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Claudia Beauprez
Religion	Roman Catholic
1Ed Perlmutter will replace Beauprez in the House on January 3, 2007.

Robert L. "Bob" Beauprez (born September 22, 1948) is an American politician who has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 7th Congressional District of Colorado (map). The seventh district was newly created by redistricting, which added an extra seat to Colorado. Beauprez narrowly won by 121 votes. In the House, Beauprez serves on the Ways and Means Committee. Image File history File links Vote. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ... Image File history File links BEAUPREZ.JPG Summary Bob Beauprez, in military issue flight suit, taken in April 2003. ... Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... Colorados 7th Congressional district The 7th Congressional district of Colorado is located in central Colorado, encompassing much of the northern parts of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, including the cities of Lakewood, Arvada, and Aurora. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Lafayette is a city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. ... GOP redirects here. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Ed Perlmutter at the opening of his campaign office in Lakewood, Colorado Edwin George Ed Perlmutter (born 1953) is a Democratic politician from Colorado. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. ... The 7th Congressional district of Colorado is located in central Colorado, encompassing much of the northern parts of the Denver metropolitan area, including the cities of Lakewood, Arvada, and Aurora. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... The process known as redistricting in the United States and redistribution in many Commonwealth countries is the changing of political borders (in many countries, specifically the electoral district/constituency boundaries) usually in response to periodic census results. ... The Committee on Ways and Means is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. ...

Beauprez was a Republican candidate in Colorado's 2006 gubernatorial race, and was endorsed by sitting governor Bill Owens. He faced Bill Ritter in the 2006 November election, conceding defeat at 10:15 PM on November 7. Subsequently, by November 10th, results showed Ritter with 779,000 and Beauprez with 566,000, with less than 100,000 absentee and provisional ballot left to count. Since both candidates were born in Colorado, regardless of the winner, this election marked the first time a native Coloradoan has served as governor in 31 years and the first time one has been elected in 58 years. William F. Bill Owens (born October 22, 1950) is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. ... August William Ritter, Jr. ...

Beauprez is married with four children.

Early life

Bob Beauprez grew up Catholic on his family's dairy farm outside of Boulder, Colorado, which had been purchased by his grandparents. His grandparents immigrated to Colorado from Belgium and raised draft horses on the family's land. Joe and Maire Beauprez, 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. A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. ...

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.

Land developer

The family eventually got out of the cattle business and began to partner with developers to use their land to create Indian Peaks golf course and a housing development. During this time Beauprez and his partners were the target of a lawsuit when one of the homeowners sued them due to damage their house had sustained from golf balls. Beauprez, angered at the suit, joined the Colorado Civil Justice League, a group aimed at tort reform.

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 sometime his first leadership role came in 1997 has 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 for the seat to represent the 7th Colorado Congressional District in the 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 Veteran's 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. [2] [3] The Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives acts as the leader of the party that has a majority control of the seats in the house (currently at least 218 of the 435 seats). ... Thomas Dale Tom DeLay (born April 8, 1947) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. ... Americans for a Republican Majority also ARMPAC, a Political Action Committee formed by former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offence. ... The term felony is used for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. ...

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 Jersusalem 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. [4] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Bribery is a crime implying a sum or gift given alters the behaviour of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person. ...

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 United States Congressman to attend The Jerusalem Summit. Other guests and panelists included the former heads of Israeli, Turkish, and Jordanian intelligence agencies. [5]

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." [6]

2006 Colorado gubernatorial race

After winning the August 2006 Republican Party nomination he began his campaign to succeed Bill Owens as Governor of Colorado. Bob Beauprez was uncontested for the Republican nomination. 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 Wayne Allard's seat in 2008, if Colorado Senator Allard retires.^{[citation needed]}

Military service

Bob Beauprez, third from right, following a flight in an F-16 over Colorado.

On February 2, 2006, veterans called on Beauprez to apologize for appearing at a photo-op in a military-issued uniform, even though he had never served in the military. He had requested and received three draft deferments and then a medical release during the Vietnam War. [7] In May 2006, ProgressNow, a liberal advocacy group, produced an Internet-based ad that again focused on Beauprez's draft status during Vietnam. The Beauprez campaign dismissed the ad as done by a "well-financed attack machine." Image File history File links BEAUPREZ.JPG Summary Bob Beauprez, in military issue flight suit, taken in April 2003. ... Image File history File links BEAUPREZ.JPG Summary Bob Beauprez, in military issue flight suit, taken in April 2003. ... February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Conscript redirects here, to artificial script. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of...

NCIC database

In October, Beauprez started running ads that attacked Ritter's performance as Denver District Attorney, citing a plea-bargained case against illegal immigrant and alleged heroin dealer Carlos Estrada Medina. Under the plea bargain, the dealer was given probation. Later, he was arrested in California, under an alias, on suspicion of sexual abuse on a child. But the fact that that information couldn't be verified in public court records prompted inquiries to Beauprez's campaign as to where it got its facts. Beauprez's campaign manager, John Marshall told a local news station, "In federal criminal databases, the guy's information matches up." That comment set off alarms in Ritter's campaign because federal criminal databases are off-limits to anyone but law enforcement and can be used only for law enforcement purposes.^[1] Because the subsequent arrest was under an alias, Ritter's supporters argued that the information could only have been obtained by accessing the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which access is restricted by federal law. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation, and found enough evidence to then ask FBI to join its probe.^[2]. Beauprez denied anything improper had occurred, and that he had never heard of a the NCIC database. The Denver Post noted that, as a Congressman, Beauprez had co-sponsored a bill relating to the database.^[3] Within a few days, a federal agent was named in the press as the source of the information.^[4] Beauprez defended the action as "whistlebowing," citing a pattern of plea bargains during Ritter's term as district attorney. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is the United Statess central database for tracking crime-related information, including wanted persons, missing persons, certain firearms, stolen property, and criminal histories. ...

References

1. ^ Lynn Bartels and M.E. Sprengelmeyer. "Duel over database vote: Beauprez backed stiffer rules; Ritter camp questions memory", Rocky Mountain News, October 23, 2006.
2. ^ Chris Frates. "FBI asked to look into Beauprez ad", Denver Post, October 19, 2006.
3. ^ Karen E. Crummy. "Beauprez co-sponsored bill on database", Denver Post, October 22, 2006.
4. ^ Joe Hanel. "Beauprez says ad information was volunteered", The Durango Herald, October 21, 2006.

External links

• Official website
• Beauprez for Governor website
• Denver Post profile
• Project Vote Smart profile