Curt Weldon
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Curt Weldon (born July 22, 1947) is an American politician. He has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, representing the Seventh Congressional District of Pennsylvania (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/pa07_109.gif)) . He is the most senior member of the Pennsylvania Delegation and is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Weldon is the Vice-chair of the Armed Services Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee. He is also the co-chair of the Duma-Congress Study Group-- the official inter-parliamentary relationship between the United States and Russia.
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Early Life and Education
Weldon grew up in a blue collar family in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of nine children. Despite many challenges, he attended West Chester University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.A in Russian Studies in 1969, making him the first in his family to attend and graduate from college. He selected this major due to the aggressive relationship between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and that "[O]ne day, our relationship would change and the United States and the Soviet Union would normalize relations." Weldon also speaks the Russian language fluently.
Weldon married Mary Gallagher and they have five children.
Early Political Career
Weldon wasn't active in politics until 1977, when he became the Mayor of Marcus Hook Borough. Prior to that, he served as an educator in local Delaware County schools as well as a volunteer fire-fighter in Marcus Hook.
Weldon served two terms as Mayor from 1977 to 1982 and was nominated for election on both the Republican and Democratic tickets. His efforts as mayor were geared towards reviving his town against the violent Pagan Motorcycle Gang.
From 1981 to 1986, Weldon became a councilman and later chair of the Delaware County Council. Maintaining his interest in foreign affairs, he coordinated a USSR student exchange in 1985 that continues to this day.
Tenure as US Congressman
Weldon first ran for U.S. Congress for the 7th district of Pennsylvania in 1984 on the Republican ticket but lost to incumbent Democrat Rep. Robert W. Edgar. However, Edgar did not seek re-election in 1986 but instead ran for the U.S. Senate against Arlen Specter. Weldon then ran again for Edgar's seat in 1986 and won with a comfortable margin.
Weldon's margin for re-election has grown considerably since then, handily defeating Democratic opponents. It is interesting to note that in 2000, Weldon was re-elected with 65% of the vote even though Democratic Presidential Nominee Al Gore won Delaware County with 54% of the vote.
Weldon is now the oldest member of the Pennsylvanian delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
House Committee Assignments
Weldon originally joined the Armed Services Committee and Science Committee. He currently chairs the Military Procurement Subcommittee under Armed Services. For the 109th Congress, he now serves as Vice-chair of the Armed Services Committee and the Select Committee on Homeland Security.
He founded the Congressional Fire Services Caucus to ensure safety in the Capitol and House office buildings. He even assisted in putting out a fire in then House Speaker Jim Wright's office.
In June of 1998, Weldon served on the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China, what is better regarded as the "Cox Committee." This select committee, consisting of five Republicans and four Democrats, was formed to investigate whether the Clinton Administration's waivers allowing U.S. military contractors to transfer military technology to China damaged national security. The Committee unanimously approved the final report which concluded that such actions did harm national security.
External link
- Official website (http://www.house.gov/curtweldon/)
- Blogger questions Curt Weldon's actions (http://www.totallydelco.com/blog/2004/10/curt-weldon-demigod-or-pariah.html)
- Lawmaker's Book Warns of Iran (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/08/AR2005060802341.html), Washington Post, 9 June 2005
- Curt Weldon's Deep Throat (http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=9836)