Tauzin likely to finish term: Cancer treatment is set to end June 2

Tuesday, May 25, 2004
By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau

WASHINGTON -- Retiring U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, likely will finish out his congressional term, a spokesman said Monday, quelling speculation that he would step down early and prompt a special election to fill his seat.

Tauzin, 60, remains on leave from Congress while he undergoes cancer treatment. His last round of chemotherapy at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is scheduled for June 2, and the 13-term lawmaker could be back working on Capitol Hill by the end of that month, Ken Johnson said.

"There's a very good chance he will finish out his term," Johnson said. "Billy has a lot of unfinished business."

Fearful that Tauzin's seat could go to the Democrats in a special election, national Republicans have urged him to serve out his term or at least serve until the scheduled Nov. 2 primary. The party figures that President Bush's popularity will drive up Republican turnout and help GOP candidates in the fall.

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Wasn't Tauzin supposed to step down soon and get a lobbying job from a health care company? I also heard that he was going to be head of the MPAA for some reason...