Gene Taylor

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Gene Taylor

United States Representative from Mississippi's 4th district
In office 1989 - present
Preceded by	Ronnie Shows
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	September 17, 1953 New Orleans, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Margaret Taylor
Religion	Roman Catholic

Gary Eugene "Gene" Taylor (born September 17, 1953) is an American politician of the Democratic Party and a U.S. Representative from the 4th District of Mississippi (map). Taylor was born in New Orleans. He is a graduate of Tulane University and also earned additional post-graduate work at University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Park Campus. From 1971 through 1984, he was a member of the United States Coast Guard, commanding a search and rescue boat and earning several commendations. Taylor is a devout Roman Catholic, one of the few who has been elected in the predominantly Southern Baptist state of Mississippi.

Shortly after leaving the Coast Guard, Taylor was elected to the Mississippi State Senate. After only one term, he ran as the Democratic candidate to succeed Trent Lott in Mississippi's 5th District when Lott made a successful run for the Senate. He lost to Harrison County sheriff Larkin I. Smith by almost 10 points. However, Smith died in a plane crash eight months later. In the special election to fill Smith's seat, Taylor came in first in an all-party primary to fill the vacancy. Taylor then won the runoff against Lyle Williams two weeks later and took office on October 18, 1989. He won a full term in 1990 with 81 percent of the vote and has had little trouble being reelected despite representing a district that has not supported the official Democratic presidential candidate since 1956. His district was renumbered the 4th after the 2000 redistricting that cost Mississippi a congressional seat.

Taylor is one of the most conservative Democrats in the House. In 2004 he voted with the Republican leadership 54.2 percent of the time [1]. He voted for all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton, making him the only Democrat to do so, and has frequently skipped Democratic conventions. He is pro-life, a supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment and a firm supporter of the right to bear arms. Taylor is a strong opponent of affirmative action and opposes anti-discrimination laws. In 2006, Taylor was the only Democrat in the House to vote in favor of all amendments to the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act. He did however vote with every Democrat in favor of the final bill. He strongly supports the death penalty and is more conservative on issues of immigration, crime, and drugs than many Republicans. He is among the House's strongest supporters of drug testing for all federal employees and has submitted amendments to that effect. He has voted in favor of lawsuit reform and tightening rules on personal bankruptcy. Throughout most of his career, Taylor has voted against many bills and amendments supported by labor unions. For instance in 2002, he was one of only five Democrats to vote against an amendment submitted by liberal Connie Morella (R-MD) to secure workplace rights for employees in the Department of Homeland Security. Congressman Taylor also supported amending the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget and another amendment requiring a two-thirds majority to raise taxes.

Taylor has been a severe critic of the Bush Administration's fiscal policy. Taylor voted against the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, claiming that the cuts contained in those bills would only increase the national debt. He derided the prescription drug plan passed in 2003 as a giveaway to companies that donate to the Republican Party. He opposes free trade and was strongly opposed to the Bush Administration's proposals for reforming Social Security. He once sponsored a bill that would repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and has voted numerous times to leave the World Trade Organization (WTO). Taylor has a mixed voting record on environmental issues. He has voted repeatedly against the ban on drilling in Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), while voting at other times with the mainstream of his party. He has also denounced Vice President Dick Cheney's ties to Halliburton.

In the 2004 primary elections, Taylor endorsed fellow southern Democrat, General Wesley Clark.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

Taylor has been a particularly harsh critic of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Much of his district took a direct hit from the storm, which destroyed his home in Bay St. Louis (47 miles west of Biloxi) as well as Lott's home in Pascagoula. [2] When Republican leaders appointed a select committee to investigate the federal, state and local response to Katrina, most Democrats boycotted it because they felt it would be a whitewash. However, Taylor was one of three Democrats (the others were Bill Jefferson and Charlie Melancon, both of Louisiana) invited to attend the hearings because their districts were particularly hard-hit by the storm. He has since moved to Kiln.

When former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Michael Brown appeared before the committee, Taylor reacted angrily to Brown's attempts to put primary responsibility for the failed response at the state and local level. He seemed particularly upset that several first responders in his home county, Hancock County, were forced to loot a Wal-Mart to get food and supplies.

[edit] Quotes

Here in Mississippi, there's a great provision of the constitution that says you can't get any financial benefit from any law that passes a body of which you are a member. There's an outfit out there called Halliburton with billions of dollars in noncompetitive contracts that passed through the United States Senate. The vice president of the United States is the president of the United States Senate. He could not do that in Mississippi. He's still drawing money from that firm. That's government by auction. We don't allow that in Mississippi. It shouldn't be allowed in Washington.--referring to Dick Cheney's ties to Haliburton.

To Michael Brown on Hurricane Katrina:

(Y)ou can try to throw as much as you can on the backs of Louisianians, but I'm a witness as to what happened in Mississippi. You folks fell on your face. You get an F-minus in my book.

Maybe the president made a very good move when he asked you to leave your job.

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Larkin I. Smith (R)	United States Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Mississippi 1989-2003	Succeeded by: 5th district eliminated after Census 2000
Preceded by: Ronnie Shows (D)	United States Representative for the 4th Congressional District of Mississippi 2003-present	Succeeded by: Incumbent