Representative W. J. (Billy) Tauzin

Wilbert Joseph Tauzin II (born June 14, 1943), known as Billy Tauzin, is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana’s 3rd congressional district from 1980 to 2005. He initially served as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party in 1995.

Early Life and Education

Of Cajun descent, Tauzin is a lifelong resident of Chackbay, a small town just outside Thibodaux, Louisiana. He graduated from Nicholls State University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He earned a J.D. degree from Louisiana State University in 1967. While attending law school, he served as a legislative aide in the Louisiana State Senate.

Political Career

Tauzin began his elective career in 1972 when he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives, serving four full terms as a Democrat. In 1979, David C. Treen, the U.S. Representative from Louisiana’s 3rd congressional district, was elected as the state’s first Republican governor in more than a century. When Treen resigned his House seat on March 10, 1980, Tauzin won a special election for the seat on May 17, defeating Democratic State Senator Anthony Guarisco Jr. and Republican Jim Donelon.

For 15 years, Tauzin was known as one of the more conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives. When the Democrats lost control of the House after the 1994 elections, Tauzin was one of the co-founders of the House Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate-to-conservative Democrats.

In 1987, Tauzin ran for Governor of Louisiana but lost to fellow Congressman Buddy Roemer. On August 8, 1995, Tauzin switched to the Republican Party, claiming that conservatives were no longer welcome in the Democratic Party. He soon became a deputy majority whip and was the first representative to have been part of the leadership of each party in the House.

Tauzin served as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 2001 to February 2004, when he announced he would not seek re-election. During his tenure, he left his mark on issues ranging from natural gas, airline, trucking, and electricity deregulation to the Clean Air Act, Superfund, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

PhRMA Lobbyist

In January 2005, the day after his congressional term ended, Tauzin began work as the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a powerful trade group for pharmaceutical companies. Two months before resigning as chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the drug industry, Tauzin had played a key role in shepherding through Congress the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill. He retired from PhRMA at the end of June 2010.

Personal Life

Tauzin is married to Cecile Tauzin and has five children from a previous marriage. In 2003, he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.