Gerald C. Weller
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Gerald Cameron Weller (born July 7, 1957) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing . As of 2015, Weller is the managing principal of New World Group Public Affairs, a lobbying group with offices in Washington, DC, Florida and Guatemala. He was also a Global Development Officer for an
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
company called VIPTV.


Early life, education, and early political career

Weller was born in
Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle and Livingston County, Illinois, Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary), Vermilion River approximately so ...
, to LaVern and Marilyn Weller, and raised on his family's hog farm in Dwight, Illinois. Weller is a 1979 graduate of the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
where he received his degree in agriculture. Weller has been married twice. Weller was a staff member for U.S. Congressman Tom Corcoran from 1980 to 1981, assistant to the director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, and an aide to Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block from 1981 to 1985. In the 1986 general election, Weller challenged incumbent Democratic Representative Ray A. Christensen in the 85th district. In the official result, Weller won by a four-vote margin, 14,217 to 14,213. Christensen challenged the result while Weller was sworn in as the State Representative. The Illinois House of Representatives set up a House Committee on Election Contests which heard the two candidates' challenges. In a party line vote, the House voted to unseat Weller and seat Christensen. In the 1988 election, Weller was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives defeating Democratic candidate and Grundy County Clerk Lana Phillips after Christensen opted to retire. Weller was succeeded by Grundy County Board member Stephen Spangler.


U.S. House of Representatives


Tenure

Weller was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 following the retirement of Democrat George Sangmeister. Weller won a crowded Republican primary, and defeated fellow State Representative Frank Giglio in the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. In 1995, Weller received an Environmental Protector Award from the Chicago Audubon Society for his political service. After a release of
tritium Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...
from
Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American public utility headquartered in Chicago, and incorporated in Pennsylvania. Exelon is the largest electric parent company in the United States by revenue and is the largest regulated electric utility in the Uni ...
's Braidwood and Dresden Nuclear Power Plant Weller sent a letter to Exelon Corp expressing his concern and recommended that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigate the power plants in question. In 2002, a Federal Election Commission audit found a fund used by Weller for his re-election in 2000 received almost $11,000 that appeared to have violated federal campaign rules on the size and source of donations. Weller's fund returned all of the questioned contributions but did not admit deliberately violating any laws. On October 10, 2002, Weller voted with the 296-133 majority in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Weller served as Deputy Minority Whip. On September 21, 2007, Weller announced that he would not seek another term, citing the need to spend more time with his family. Weller supported free trade when serving in Congress and traveled throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to build better relationships with public sector and business leaders. He was the number one supporter for the Panama trade agreement with the United States. Weller made efforts to eliminate the marriage penalty tax. He supported the use of tax incentives to help redevelop brownfield formal industrial land, developing a proposal with Democrats, such as Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
, to do so. Weller championed the creation of the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, the
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a tallgrass prairie reserve and is preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the United States Forest Service. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the United St ...
and other redevelopment efforts at the former Joliet arsenal. Redevelopment of the site included the Deer Run Industrial Park, which contains the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, a new
intermodal freight transport Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., rail, ship, aircraft, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing ...
center. Weller supported plans for the Illiana Expressway. Weller voted again to raise the minimum wage in the 110th Congress. Weller sponsored a bill to expand concurrent receipt for wounded military veterans, but it did not pass. Weller sponsored a bill to make the residential energy efficient property credit permanent, which never left committee. Weller promised prior to his marriage to
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
n Congresswoman Zury Mayté Ríos Sosa de Weller, that he would not vote on any legislation involving solely the U.S. and Guatemala. His advocacy and vote for CAFTA caused controversy however, despite it being a multi-nation agreement. Weller has long supported free-trade agreements. As a FRG party leader, his wife was also a supporter of CAFTA. Weller accepted money from two convicted associates of former congressman Duke Cunningham. Weller's spokesman said that the donations probably originated from his support of the research and development tax credit and the money was donated to a charity in Oregon. Weller and 11 other congressmen were subpoenaed to testify in the trial of Brent R. Wilkes, the contractor accused of bribing Cunningham. The subpoenas were withdrawn by defense attorneys on October 3, 2007 when it became apparent the trial judge would quash them anyway. Weller and the other 11 did not testify in the trial. Weller was the only member of the House of Representatives to abstain in the vote for the proposed bailout of U.S. financial system (2008).


Committees

Weller was on the following committees at various times: * Committee on Ways & Means (-2008) ** Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support (Ranking Member) (-2008) ** Subcommittee on Trade * Committee On International Relations (-2006)


Personal life

In July 2004, Weller announced that he was engaged to three-term
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
n Congresswoman Zury Mayté Ríos Sosa, daughter of former Guatemalan dictator
Efraín Ríos Montt José Efraín Ríos Montt (; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as ''de facto'' President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the blo ...
. On November 20, 2004, the two married at her father's home in Antigua Guatemala; this was his second marriage and her fourth. (Zury Ríos has also used the combined parental surname, Ríos Sosa, following the naming customs of Hispanic America; during this marriage, her personal website used the hybrid married form "Ríos-Montt de Weller".) In August 2006, a daughter, Marizú Catherine, was born in a hospital in
Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...
. Weller and Ríos have since divorced.


Properties in Nicaragua

On October 25, 2006, the ''
Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...
'' reported that Weller had disclosed three parcels of land he owned in
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
on his financial disclosure forms: one purchased in 2002, one purchased in April 2004, and one purchased in December 2005. The newspaper also reported that it had obtained notarized bills of sale for three more lots owned by Weller that had never been listed on his forms: a lot sold in February 2005, a lot purchased in March 2005, and lot purchased in April 2005. The failure to properly disclosure property ownership was alleged to be a violation of the Ethics in Government Act and the False Statements Accountability Act of 1996. Weller's lawyer said that he couldn't comment because of the attorney-client privilege.Frank Smyth
"Is Jerry Weller's beach an ethics breach?"
''Chicago Reader'', October 25, 2006
Weller's campaign manager said Weller "does not own three more parcels in Nicaragua. He does not own six parcels in Nicaragua. He has filed his disclosure for everything that he owns." On September 7, 2007, the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' disclosed the results of their own investigation into his land deals, including discrepancies on declared prices and numbers of transactions, centered in the Playa Coco resort area. For example, Weller listed only one Nicaraguan property purchase on his 2005 disclosure form, but property records in Nicaragua showed that he bought or sold at least eight pieces of land. No inquiry was ever launched by the Democratically-controlled House, but Weller announced that he would not seek reelection on September 21, 2007.


See also

* United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2008


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weller, Jerry 1957 births Living people 21st-century evangelicals 21st-century Illinois politicians American evangelicals Members of Congress who became lobbyists People from Dwight, Illinois People from Morris, Illinois People from Streator, Illinois Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois University of Illinois College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences alumni 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly