Posted on 03/09/2004 6:15:32 PM PST by KQQL
Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) has been diagnosed with cancer and is taking a 30-day medical leave of absence from Congress.
The former Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, will undergo surgery next week at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. It will be the seventh time since December that Tauzin has been hospitalized, Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson said.
Over the last couple of months, Tauzin has received treatments for a bleeding ulcer.
The cancer, which is in the upper small intestine and is related to the ulcer, was not initially detected in CAT scans.
Tauzin has informed House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Johnson said, adding that the 30-day medical leave is effective immediately.
“The doctors are very optimistic for a full recovery, although I suspect that he won’t be using any Tabasco sauce for a while,” Johnson said. “If everything goes as planned, he’ll lead a long, productive healthy life.”
The surgery is expected to hospitalize the 60-year old lawmaker for 10 days. He then will rest at home for an additional two weeks, Johnson said.
Ever since his bleeding ulcer was detected, Tauzin knew that cancer was a possibility. Still, Johnson said, the diagnosis “was a big shock for all of us.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has criticized Tauzin for negotiating with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) as he retained jurisdiction of a committee that oversees the drug industry. She also questioned whether he was negotiating while he helped craft the Medicare reform bill that was signed into law in December.
Tauzin has vehemently denied that he was discussing a job with PhRMA as the Medicare bill moved through Congress.
Johnson yesterday fired back at Pelosi: “Perhaps Nancy Pelosi will now realize that Billy was more interested with getting well physically than getting well financially.”
John Feehery, spokesman for Hastert, said at press time that he could not confirm that Tauzin has informed leadership of his plans to leave Congress temporarily.
Don't count on it - she's probably added him to the Rat death watch list, right behind John Ashcroft, eagerly anticipating the chance to pick up a House seat. People like Pelosi are incapable of any kind of humanity when it comes to dealing with Republicans, and the media eggs them on.
I will keep him in my prayers, however.
Don't count on it - she's probably added him to the Rat death watch list, right behind John Ashcroft, eagerly anticipating the chance to pick up a House seat. People like Pelosi are incapable of any kind of humanity when it comes to dealing with Republicans, and the media eggs them on.
I will keep him in my prayers, however.
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