John Breaux

Senator John B. Breaux "joined Patton Boggs as Senior Counsel upon his retirement from the United States Senate in 2005. He provides strategic advice to the firm’s attorneys and clients on a wide range of public policy matters, with special concentration in the areas of health care and energy law.

Lobbying in health care debate

As a former senator, John Breaux fought against allowing drug prices to be negotiated in Medicare Part D. A year after the passage of the bill creating Medicare Part D, Breaux left the Senate and began a career in lobbying. He now has his own lobbying firm, Breaux Lott Leadership Group, which so far by October, 2009 had received $300,000 to lobby for the pharmaceutical industry.

Biographical information

"Senator Breaux led a long and distinguished career in Congress. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1972 at the age of 28—at the time of his election he was the youngest member of the US Congress. He represented the 7th District of Louisiana for 14 years before being elected to fill Senator Russell Long's seat in 1986.

"Senator Breaux was a widely recognized bipartisan leader in the Senate, and in 1993 was elected by his Democratic colleagues to the post of Deputy Minority Whip, a position he held until his retirement. He also held a number of key Senate committee positions. A senior member of the Finance Committee, Senator Breaux served as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy. He also held positions on two other Finance subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Health Care and the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight. From his position on the Finance Committee, he played instrumental roles in forging the compromises that led to passage of the welfare reform and health insurance reform bills in 1996. He was also a leader in the efforts to reduce the capital gains tax and to provide tax relief for college education expenses.

"While in the Senate, Senator Breaux was a recognized leader on energy issues. He served as Co-Chair of the Oil and Gas Caucus and was a conferee on energy legislation that eventually was written into the 2005 Energy Bill. Senator Breaux was active in advancing legislation to promote domestic oil and gas production, and was a Co-Sponsor of the Marginal Well Preservation Act, a tax-incentive program to encourage oil production from marginal oil wells. He was also a principal author of the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act.

"Senator Breaux was a founder of the Centrist Coalition of Senate Democrats and Republicans and served as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. In 2005 President George W. Bush appointed Senator Beaux as the Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, while in 2006, Senator Breaux was chosen to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Transformational Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State."

• Trustee, Meridian International Center