I think we lost a great deal of sympathy and support with the way in which the crisis was handled, most importantly I think when we appeared to be grasping for too much at one time instead of identifying our priorities in a much more responsible fashion.

) against Tauzin and accused him of using unethical tactics to push a bill that "the pharmaceutical lobbyists wrote". Tauzin defeated Democratic State Senator Tony Guarisco and another Democrat who also later turned Republican: Jim Donelon.

He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1980 to 2005 representing Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. He was President and CEO of PhRMA a pharmaceutical company lobby group.