Boustany, Charles, 1956-

Charles William Boustany Jr. (born February 21, 1956) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 7th and 3rd congressional districts from 2005 to 2017.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he graduated Cathedral Carmel High School in Lafayette, Louisiana before earning a B.S. from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and an M.D. from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Rochester, New York before returning to Louisiana to take a job at Charity Hospital, New Orleans. Boustany served as the President and CEO of his own private practice of medicine in the field of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery from 1990 to 2004.

In 2004, Boustany was elected to the first of six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a Congressman, Boustany authored legislation on a wide range of subjects, from tax issues to welfare. He initiated the IRS investigation that uncovered the abusive practice of targeting individuals and organizations based on political and religious beliefs. Additionally, Boustany developed and co-authored landmark legislation that repealed the sustainable growth rate formula for physician payment and transitioned physician payment to a system that rewards quality and value rather than volume. He also authored trade enforcement language that created the tools for more effective trade enforcement in an effort to stop abusive practices. In 2012, after Louisiana lost a congressional district following the 2010 Census, Boustany bested Tea Party darling Jeff Landry in the November blanket primary and December runoff election. In 2016, he ran for the open U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Republican David Vitter, and on election day he received 15.4 percent of the vote at third place, not enough to advance to the run-off.

Boustany joined Capitol Counsel LLC at the beginning of 2017. He serves as president of the Association of Former Members of Congress, a bipartisan, nonprofit, voluntary alliance of former United States Senators and Representatives, standing for America’s Constitutional system.