Robert Foligny Broussard (August 17, 1864 – April 12, 1918) was both a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

and a

U.S. senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. He was born on the Mary Louise plantation near

New Iberia New Iberia (; ) is the largest city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette, and forms part of ...

, the seat of

Iberia Parish Iberia Parish (, ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 69,929; the parish seat is New Iberia. The parish was formed in 1868 during the Reconstruction era and named for Iberia. It is p ...

, to Jean Dorville Broussard, and his wife Anastasie Elizadie Gonsoulin Broussard.

Career

Broussard attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, from 1879 to 1882. He was a night inspector of

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

from 1885 to 1888, when he was appointed assistant weigher and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

. He held that position in 1888–89. He graduated from the Tulane University Law School in 1889. He was admitted to the bar the same year and launched his practice in New Iberia. He was elected

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

of the Nineteenth Judicial District and held that office from 1892 to 1897. Broussard was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fifth and to the eight succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1915). While in the House of Representative, he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice (Sixty-third Congress); he did not seek renomination in 1914, having become a candidate for Senator. He was elected to the Senate already on 21 May 1912 and served from March 4, 1915, until his death three years later in New Iberia. In the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on National Banks (Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Congresses). Broussard introduced the "American Hippo Bill", H.R. 23261, in 1910. This bill proposed $250,000 in funding from the federal government to import the

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

in order to solve two problems at once: the meat shortage in the United States and the invasive plant-species called the

Water Hyacinth ''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive species, invasive outside its native rang ...

invading Louisiana's waterways. He was a member of The Boston Club of New Orleans.

References

Robert F. Broussard, late a senator from Louisiana, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broussard, Robert F. 1864 births 1918 deaths People from New Iberia, Louisiana Cajun people Louisiana lawyers Tulane University Law School alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Career

See also

References