Gene Taylor
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Gary Eugene "Gene" Taylor (born September 17, 1953) is a American politician of the Democratic Party and a U.S. Representative from the 4th District of Mississippi (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ms04_109.gif)).
Taylor was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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. 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. He lost to Harrison County sheriff Larkin Smith by almost 10 points. However, Smith died in a plane crash eight months later. Taylor came in first in an all-party primary to fill the vacancy and handily won the runoff two weeks later, taking office on October 18, 1989. He won a full term in 1990 with 81% of the vote and has had little trouble being reelected. His district was renumbered the 4th after the 2000 census, when Mississippi's sluggish population growth cost it a congressional seat.
Taylor is one of the more conservative Democrats in the House. He voted for all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton, and has frequently skipped Democratic conventions. He is also a cosponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment. However, he has been a severe critic of the Bush Administration's fiscal policy. He has also denounced Vice President Dick Cheney's ties to Haliburton.
Quote
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.
External links
- Official site (http://www.house.gov/genetaylor)